


Salty Gift of the Devil

by uztre



Series: The Witcher - The Sorceresses' Final Salvation [2]
Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: Anal Sex, Bestiality, Breeding, Character Development, Consensual Sex, Deepthroating, Double Penetration, F/F, F/M, Fdom, Gangbang, Multiple Perspectives, Multiple Relationships, Porn With Plot, Rape/Non-con Elements, Self-Discovery, Semi-consensual Sex, Sexual Slavery, Story within a Story, Vampires, Voluntary and Forced Prostitution, Werewolves, mdom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-07-05 02:43:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 42,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15854607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uztre/pseuds/uztre
Summary: After the events of ‘Wet Cherry of Truth’, Geralt arrives in Velen and determined to find his foster-daughter Ciri and all-time love Yennefer of Vengerberg. Quickly, the witcher must realize that the people he used to know have changed and been dealing with their own problems. And there is Barrett, a powerful leader of an organization whose origin goes back to the Conjunction of the Spheres, and he is aiming for the one thing that matters; the Elder Blood.





	1. CP1: Netek

**Author's Note:**

> Attention #1: This is the second book of the series 'The Witcher - The Sorceresses' Final Salvation' and the main story after 'Wet Cherry of Truth'. I recommend to read it first. Good luck ;-)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Netek is in Poviss to finish his job. Before he can do that, the sadistic dwarf gets a visit by the sexy Irene van Engelsberg and then even by Barrett himself who asks him for another favor which is going to affect the entire continent's future...
> 
> Word count: 5925
> 
> Tags: handjob

Netek always liked Lan Exeter.  
  
With its beautiful canals and buildings, the city was emitting a unique feeling no other places were able to replicate in the same way. The streets were clean, the water gleamed sapphire blue and the air was sweet with green apples. Every stone, every tree, and every well seemed to be placed so it could add a little bit more to the perfection of the city's aura of luxury.  
  
Novigrad and Oxenfurt, for instances, had also their own magnetic personality but they were oozing with poverty and the burden of the past. The continental war was wearing both cities' souls out and benefiting breeding grounds for extreme views and criminality. Not that Netek had any problems with those things, quite the contrary since he used to live and love to work in such environment but it felt good to be far away from the accustomed and dirty from time to time.  
  
And there were other reasons too. Many, of course. Women, to be more precise, and fashion, money, bitches, daughters and mothers trying to rebel against their fathers and brothers the most humiliating and depraved way possible. And the more demure the northern women had become over the last centuries in particular, the more the koviri women seemed to be in a desperate search of new ways to express themselves, to push social boundaries keeping them hidden in their rich districts and overpriced villas, and to live in debauchery while wearing short dresses, mini skirts, bikini panties and thongs, pumps and heels all day long.  
  
And as long as the money was there, a man could get everything in Lan Exeter.  
  
Really everything.  
  
Pussies and tits, weapons and fisstech, bitches and whores, and even things people never heard about. Fucking everything.  
  
And that was the reason why Netek loved this damn, shithole country.  
  
Why everyone loved this place for it...  
  
The dwarf only wished that his beloved, crazy bitch Jenny would have been here too and suck his cock while he was enjoying the sight like now. And then he would have turned her around and fucked her sore ass silly through the open window so everyone could see Yennefer's bobbing tits and putrid begging to become his bitch.  
  
Netek was determined to make this very imagination become reality as fast as possible after he was done with all this murdering here.  
  
Stepping away from the window, Netek walked back to the living room and drew his knife. As much as he enjoyed the view and the contemplation, the dwarf loved something much more; killing scums and wannabe alphas. In this case, eleven men and one woman, twelve in total.  
  
After Netek had left his 'love of life' behind in Oxenfurt, Netek immediately traveled back by ship to end his half-finished job in Kovir. To his luck, his preys were still at their expected spots and he only had to break into their mansions, kidnap them and take them to a mansion of his preferred choice where he was going to enjoy their faces when he massacred their accomplices one by one. Seeing the desperation in the people's faces, that was all about.  
  
This time, it was Karl Rhyst's villa, or Little-dick Karl how Netek called him lovely because he was a rich faggot without charisma, talents, and convictions. As Barrett's puppet and dummy in koviri politics and businesses, Karl climbed the social ladder and to a position of power like no one else on the planet. He became arrogant and developed a false self-esteem, treated people around him like crap and subhumans. For Netek it was clear that it was just a matter of time when someone tried to murder him. He only wished it would be him.  
  
"Mmmmm- mmmmmm," the former admiral muttered through his gag, hands, and ankles tied together behind his beck. Like the others next to him in a row, he couldn't move a bit and was laying on his torso, resembling an animal before he got fastened at a stake and roasted on camping fire like a pig, alive.  
  
"What, whimp?" asked Netek with a broad smirk and squatted in front of him. "You liked to say somethin'? What? I can't understand ye? Oh, wait. Y'er fucked, that's why, ye fuckin' piece of shithole, hehe!"  
  
"Mmmm- Mmmmm!!!" the admiral continued to mutter, tears rolling down his cheeks. He was clearly begging for mercy. To bad that Netek was a sick, narcissistic bastard not being able to feel sorry for idiots. He lifted his unseen knife and pressed it against the man's left ear.  
  
"Netek, here you are!" A familiar, female voice came up behind his back and scared Netek witless, forcing him to turn around with one motion and lower the knife so he could push it up deep into the bitch's throat who had the arrogance to call his name in this very delicate situation.  
  
"Fuckin' b- girl! Iry!" shouted Netek as he recognized his best friend's sexy chick towering before him. "What the fuckin' hell were you thinkin' sneakin' up on me like that, heh?! FUCK!!! Could have killed ye with one stroke, girl. Don't ever do that again, dammit!"  
  
"Sorry, Nety. I just entered the mansion. Thought you heard me calling from the next room," explained Irene and smiled innocently.  
  
"No, fuckin' shit, I didn't." Netek gave off a deep sigh. "Can't you see I am up to murderin' people here? Ye should at least knocked on the door before you jumped in. Women..."  
  
"Yeah, I should have done that. Sorry, Nety."  
  
Netek put his knife away and chuckled. "Damn, girl. Only you can sneak up on a guy while wearing her five-inch stiletto platforms. Ye look as smashing as always, by the way. And that blue mini dress, girl. Fuckin' hooot. "  
  
"Thanks, sweety." Irene gave him a wink and a soft kiss on the forehead, totally ignoring the twelve tied up hostages pleading for help. "Is here something to drink by chance?"  
  
"The left sideboard over there. Upper drawer. Help yourself, me little doll."  
  
Irene moved over, took out a glass, filled it with red wine and sat down on the comfy couch nearby, bending one leg sideways over the other to reveal much of her skin and ass. The blond sorceress was a Goddess of pure sexiness with cherry-red lips and blue eyes. Netek had to force himself to not look under her skin-tight dress.  
  
"So, why yer here anyway, girl?"  
  
"You know why, Nety," replied Irene, eyes blazing after taking a sip.  
  
"I did exactly what ye said. Pushed her over the edge and proved her what she really is. She will never consider herself satisfied again with the sex she had till then, as you wished."  
  
"Good. Any bruises or injuries?"  
  
"None, of course."  
  
"You know I will ask her about you. And if I even find the slightest scratch on my baby's skin, then I will make you suffer for the rest of your pity life, personally."  
  
Netek just smirked back but knew that Irene wasn't kidding when she threatened him with her famous, wagging finger. As much bitchy, innocent, and fragile she looked with her sexy, short outfits and slutty behavior, Irene van Engelsberg was anything but a helpless and naive girl. Behind those cherry-red lips, endless legs, skinny body, and ice-blue eyes were hiding a brutal, scheming, and highly intelligent witch only waiting to jump out and bite her victim's head off. She was a female alpha through and through, and there were very good reasons why she was Barrett's 'baby girl' and 'all-time love' for three centuries.  
  
Once not long ago, Netek watched how some wannabe thugs tried to fondle her crispy butt and intimidate her on the street of Novigrad. They died after two seconds when Irene simply lifted her hand and cast a spell, shrank them into the size of a cockroach and then trampled them with her five-inch platform heels without batting an eye and in full public. Netek remembered how the other remaining faggots ran off or begged for mercy, but Irene gave a shit and did the same to them and used her other shoe to trample them to death as well.  
  
Another time, Netek watched how Whoreson Senior's men including Cyprian Wiley surrounded and gagged her with the intent to rape her. Just as Netek was about to intervene, Irene solved the situation by herself. She cast a forbidden spell which painfully sundered the attackers' souls and jammed them into the one non-living object in her sight; a dog turd. As the involved men's bodies fell dead and Whoreson Junior attempted to flee, Irene shackled him by magical chains and ordered him to pick up the dog turd off the street and let it vanish through the next manhole cover, what Cyprian instantly did in his mortal fear.  
  
And the story didn't end there.  
  
Before the hundred citizens' very eyes, Irene ordered Cyprian to kneel at the manhole cover. After Whoreson Junior did what she asked, Irene pushed him down into the shaft full of shit and piss too. As if this wasn't enough humiliating, Irene also let her thong fall to her ankles, lifted the hem of her pink dress and squatted sexily over the hole. What happened next was even for novigradian standards of debauchery new and not an everyday thing.  
  
In front of a big audience, Irene peed down at one of the most powerful criminal's son and relieved herself. This was a lesson Cyprian had never forgotten and when Netek asked him once about it, he only smirked and told him that the moment Lady van Engelsberg's pussy towered over him, it would have been the most beautiful sight he could have ever imagined, and her golden stream would have tasted so sweet that he would be looking forward to another turn.  
  
So cold-hearted Irene could act, so caring could have been her deeds if someone asked for it. For instance, Netek had once gotten food poisoning and been ill in bed for five weeks. During this time, Irene herself looked after him, administered medicine, even cooked and spoon-fed him, and all this every single day. She was like a big sister to him. Admittedly, one Netek would have liked to grasp the b-cup tits and suck at the soft nipples. And Irene didn't make the situation easier for him as she visited him with usual outfits and made him go crazy and his cock rock-hard like a damn lighthouse.  
  
One day, and it was just a matter of time, Irene brought a plate of soup and caught Netek masturbating under the cover. While he was speechless with shame for the first time in his life, Irene just smiled innocently, sat down next to him on his bed and offered him straight a 'helping hand'. Netek remembered how his jaw dropped and his semi-erect cock lapped up and down against his thighs.  
  
He couldn't believe it, but Irene was dead serious and even refused his proposal to better hire a whore for this kind of job, said that they would only take advantage of his 'bad' situation and fleece him. No, by the sexy Goddess, Irene could never expect her hubby's best friend to put up with things of such matter. If Netek needed a daily handjob to regain his strength, then she would be more than pleased to help him. Barrett would have already agreed and Irene revealed that she'd be tired of cleaning his cum-leaking sheets every day.  
  
With such efforts at persuasion, Netek gave himself up to the idea and removed bed cover. His cock twitched as Irene bit her lip and then started to massage his balls first and next to the entire length. Most whores and women made the mistake to rub at the top and the bulbous head first. Unfortunately, most of the tension was lost this way. Irene, on the other side, knew to give a man a handjob even the most experienced and expensive whores couldn't. By placing one hand on his balls and constantly massaging them, she used her other hand to stroke his cock always from the bottom to the top, up and down without delay and with a fast pace. As if this wasn't enticing enough, she ordered him to always look into her eyes, never let go of them even once.  
  
Netek had no chance. He came after only fifteen minutes. And how he came. It was an explosion, like a volcanic eruption, a broken fountain. Cum was everywhere, overflowing her hand and close to trickling down his belly. But only close. Irene was a Goddess and she had easily proved that again by continuing to rub his jerking cock while collecting the flying salty globs and drops with the open palm of her other hand. And the sexy sorceresses achieved to catch them all and not let a single droplet of baby-batter get wasted or land on the cover.  
  
When Netek was up to close his eyes at the incredible sight, Irene ordered him once more with a dominant voice to keep his eyes locked at hers. Like seeing his most depraved fantasies come true, Netek was taken aback as Irene giggled and then licked off her cum-leaking hands clean and every finger in succession, one by one. And the exact same divine procedure happened in the next following four weeks, two times a day. Lips or other holes were never involved. Only Irene's magical hands and otherworldly handjob skills sufficed to make him feel as if those four weeks were passed in just two days.  
  
Netek had never more respect for a woman from those very intense days on. No way. Barrett's slut training and domestication of hundreds of years paid off completely, and Irene proved that she had been worth the effort, every crown and sweat bead.  
  
Apart from those priceless abilities, Netek also had to be honest and admit that Irene's personality was a key factor too. She was a woman who helped other people out of conviction and didn't consider herself too good for sullying her flawless hands by filth and blood. Netek saw her countless times working as a doctor in hospitals, giving out food in ghettos, teaching children maths and science, hugging them when they bumped their toes and cried in pain.  
  
Irene had so many alluring sides which went beyond the things you could see with your bare eyes. God forbid if she was mad at you and angry. Then, and Netek learned it the hard way as he 'unintentionally' spilled blood on to one of her dresses once, you are fucked and doomed. Only Barrett was able to save someone from her wrath. Before that, Netek remembered how he ran off from her, and damn! Irene was easily capable of running after him in her five-inch stiletto heels and also catch him after only two hundred feet.  
  
Luckily, Barrett was there to help Netek out of his guaranteed extinction and before Irene could push her deadly fingernails into his eyes, make a dwarven shish kebab out of him. This bitch was crazy and so hot at the same time. Unbelievable if not experienced in person.  
  
"Oh, c'mon, Iry. Ye know me. I did what ye said. As the greatest gentleman ever born, I treat me bitches always with the respect they deserve. Nothin' more, nothin' less," stated Netek with a sarcastic tone, overlooking Irene's amusing snort. "And to be honest, I think I fell in love with that crazy bitch, you know, and her delicious bubble butt."  
  
Rolling her eyes, Irene uttered, "Not again, Nety. You said the same thing for the last twenty-eight girls and always lost interest after you slept with them just one time again."  
  
"This time it is different. I can feel it. Deep inside me chest. Look. Right here."  
  
Netek pointed to his heart.  
  
"You mean your cock." Irene taunted sweetly. "Your cock is not there, Nety."  
  
"Haha, very funny. I don't care what ye think, Iry," Netek countered angrily. "Like Barrett, I want to own a sorceress too. I fuckin' deserve one, dammit!"  
  
The blond bombshell kept silent for a moment and didn't say anything, shaking slightly her head and breathing deeply. "Alright. I don't interfere with Yenna's sex and love life. Never did. When you're able to conquer her heart and she wants to be with you, then so be it. But if you hurt her, or even worse break her heart, I will transform you into a sissy whore. Have I made myself clear enough?"  
  
"Totally clear, me little doll." Netek's smirk got broader and broader. With Irene being out of the way, there was no one who could stop him from winning Jenny's heart once and for all.  
  
"But you should know that a witcher is trying to claim her heart too, and he is next and closer in the line before you. You might be too late, Nety. Just saying."  
  
"Then I will fuckin' kill that witcher boy. End of the story. Barrett's gonna understand that-."  
  
"No, you will do NO harm to Geralt in any way," resounded another familiar voice coming from the door and made Netek twitch. At the same time, the hostages began to cry and yell in desperation when they realized who the person was. Instantly, anguish took over their faces.  
  
"Speaking of the Devil," Irene giggled.  
  
"Barrett, buddy. What are ye doin' here?" asked Netek his best friend who was wearing simple black leather gear and boots but his massive physique, broad shoulders, and perfectly conditioned body cast a distinctive and dominant aura that overlapped every place. And if this wasn't enough, there was still Barrett's piercing glance and cold eyes that made peoples' legs shake, heart throbbing faster and eyes well up in fear.  
  
Netek had seen all this thousand times already.  
  
"I presume these are the idiots who molested Carthia and tried to rape her?"  
  
"Yeah," agreed Netek. "I was just up to kill them before yer girl here interrupted me."  
  
Barrett lets his feared glance hover over the hostages who were panicking sky high, then took out a heavy bag of coin and handed over to Netek. "Twenty thousand crowns for Irene's special favor. Take it. You deserve every penny of it."  
  
"Fuck no. Ye know I never take coins from ye. I was in the vicinity and just perfect for the job. And Irene is me girl too. I would fuckin' annihilate the entire continent for her, if necessary."  
  
"Without you, Yennefer of Vengerberg would have been caught, imprisoned, raped and hanged at a stake. And not necessarily in that very order. Take it. It's only fair if you get the head money as a thank-you gift from me and my baby girl."  
  
Netek wielded his hands with rejection. "No, dammit. I got enough money m'self. What I want is Jenny and just her. I want her!" yelled Netek and continued, "Jenny belongs to me. I owned her. I love her. We love each other!"  
  
Barrett rolled eyes like Irene.  
  
"Love?... What?...  You said the same thing for the last twenty-eight girls and always lost interest after you slept with them."  
  
Irene giggled and then started laughing. "I said exactly the same thing, honey."  
  
"Fuck ye, both of ye!" Netek shouted and crossed his arms, pouting the same way like the world champion Yennefer of Vengerberg was known for. "This is LOVE. Ye can't stop me! I'm a fuckin' mad dog!"  
  
Barrett was aghast and exchanged short glances with Irene, mean-mugged Netek with annoyance, "Whatever, man. Yennefer is Irene's responsibility. If she is okay with it, I'll be too. Can we close this subject now and move on to a more important one?"  
  
"Take the money, Nety, sweetheart," proposed Irene, eyes sparkling. "If you want to convince my Yenna of your love, you will need every copper and crown you can get, believe me. We sorceresses are very dainty and hard to please, and since I know that my Yenna has the same taste when it comes to fashion and heels, you will be making a lot of investments in advance before you can even whisper the word 'love' into her ear."  
  
Growling in acceptance, Netek finally took the bag and let it disappear, asked incidentally, "Why are ye here again, Barrett?" as five koviri guards and Karl Rhyst appeared in tow.  
  
"These lowlives will be transported to Oxenfurt and not killed here. I got a new job for you."  
  
"Fuckin' why, man?... Oh, has this something to do with what you did in Oxenfurt?"  
  
Barrett's expression remained dark and callous, as Karl Rhyst spoke for the first time, "More than five hundred witch hunters died and thousands of soldiers and citizens were injured. King Radovid is even speaking of a nilfgaardian terror attack. They say the Death himself was sent by Nilfgaard to kill their king and his most trustful combatants. Commander Menge would have only survived the attack because he was out of town minutes ago. A massacre."  
  
"I had to act myself. Eera and her girls were in danger, as much as your... Jenny. And you know I always protect my children. Always. No matter what the price might be."  
  
The guards and Karl's eyebrows arched in amazement and trepidation. They all knew about Barrett's power and capabilities but hearing it right from himself was a new experience. Barrett never used to be someone who swaggered about his deeds and money, and this time it wasn't different at all. Everyone preferred the blessed ignorance to emotional stress when it came to Barrett's doing.  
  
"I see," Netek chuckled. "Guess Stanicek had to look out for me Jenny there after me?"  
  
"Stanicek and Javvar."  
  
"Javvar?! That little slimy chocolate boy from pisshole Zerrikania?!? Don't tell me he touched me girl with his ugly, big chocolate fingers!"  
  
"I heard Yenna really liked him. Adda even told me that the dress and lingerie he bought for her from the Passionata store would have been enough to conquer her heart," Irene added, knowing that her words would make Netek seethe with rage. And they did, of course.  
  
"Fuckin' zerrikanian horse-fucker... I will kill him. Better now. Yes. I should go and kill him right now. Yes. I fuckin' should! Don't try to stop me!" cursed Netek and doubled his fists, as Karl Rhyst coughed slightly and asked, "If there's nothing for me here, I'd like to go now."  
  
"No, Karl. You stay here. I have a few questions for you."  
  
Barrett stopped cursing and looked to Irene who seemed to be smitten with surprise too. Barrett always knew everything in advance and without exception more than his shivering counterpart. Always. Without exception. If Barrett asked someone a question - and God forbid! - even several questions, then he was just going through the formalities before he punished this person, always lethally and mercilessly, and Karl Rhyst knew this too.  
  
His face turned pale and his chin began to tremble. Stepping forward, he tried to avoid any eye contact with Barrett who was seven feet tall and easily two heads bigger than him. Netek asked himself what the little faggot had done wrong to deserve death. Hopefully, he was going to get killed and he never had to see his pathetic figure again.  
  
"You and only you gave Vilgord Yennefer's name before she entered the ship, right?"  
  
Karl hesitated to give an answer. As Barrett placed his left hand on his shoulder, the millionaire panicked like a little girl, eyes welling up in tears. "It was a mistake, please, I didn't want to. It was-"  
  
"I SPECIFICALLY told YOU to say NO ONE about her real identity, name, and target. By deliberately doing the contrary, YOU kicked off an unstoppable chain of events and thought I would NOT discover this TREACHERY, right?"  
  
Yellow streams of pee were dropping through the thin fabric of Karl's pants. He wet himself, literally. "What?! No! Why should I do that? Please, this was just a mistake. I swear!"  
  
Netek laughed to himself. If Karl had come out with the truth now, he would have had a chance. But by questioning Barrett's intelligence and denying logic, Karl dug his own grave. And what Barrett hated more than anything in this universe were liars and dishonest people who didn't want to take responsibility for their actions, regardless of how bad their mistakes were.  
  
And Barrett was unforgiving. Netek himself observed countless times how his best friend cut people's genitals off and forced them to eat them - women and men alike to make it here clear - and how he smashed their eyes with his thumbs, scalped them, burned them, tossed them into a pool full of acid, let them get raped by beasts and undead alike, enslaved them, cut them to pieces, and so forth. And he had always done these things publicly and in front of many peoples' eyes to make sure anyone knew what happened if he and she didn't play by the rules which were very, very simple; don't damage his property (women included) and don't obstruct his business.  
  
This was why people were so afraid of him. Barrett never used his reputation to scare and frightened them off. This was not necessary. People mostly saw and pursued his deeds and punishments with their own very eyes and heard of other other people who had been already punished before.  
  
Nonetheless, Netek was aware of the fact that Barrett's true power - despite his personal skills and genius - was based on his peerless dedication to helping the poor and those without means. He provided food and water, lend interest-free money, built entire villages for free and without conditions, even in war zones and most remote places, regardless of race and gender. Barrett also used his influence and power to provide access to education for children and adults the same way, even to universities and military academies.  
  
Where Barrett used to rule from the shadows, he provided medical health, with medicine always free of charge. When people needed legal assistance, Barrett provided that too, regardless of their social status and financial situation. When people suffered discrimination and injustice by the state and criminal organizations, Barrett helped them to overcome them.  
  
"You delegated external accountants to buy shares of construction companies and military devices the moment you got the information from me, the very moment you told Vilgord Yennefer's real identity, by purpose."  
  
"W-w-why should I do that? I got more money than in my most depraved dreams!" Vilgord tossed in total despair. "Why should I antagonize you?!"  
  
"Pride. Arrogance. Boredom. And because I told you to NOT invest money of your company in redanian companies. Because I forbade you something," Barrett grunted with a hatred voice, dark eyes glowing with disgust. "You took this too far this time, Karl."  
  
"No, please. It was a mistake. My feelings just got the better of me, please..." Karl whined and fell to his knees, tugging at his pants. "Don't kill me! Please, don't!"  
  
"Because of you, Vilgord informed Caleb Menge, and he, then, mustered his forces in Oxenfurt. This, then again, caused me in person to intervene and set things right again. I hate to do that."  
  
Barrett's words were devastating, his breathing slow and forcedly calm. "So many lives had to be taken and you are personally responsible for, for each one of them."  
  
"Please, have mercy!"  
  
"By putting my baby girl's beloved daughter's life in such danger, you crossed a line you should never have..." Barrett grabbed Karl's throat and pulled him up in the air with only one hand like he was made of feathers, and added sinisterly, "and this is unacceptable, inexcusable."  
  
"No-no- no- Help me!" shouted Karl at the koviri guards. "Do something! I order to protect me!"  
  
As expected, the guards remained silent and didn't stir from the spot. As Karl recognized their inaction, he looked straight into Barrett's black, piercing eyes and uttered, "You are evil!"  
  
Barrett slightly tilted his head and fastened his grasp around Karl's throat after resting his free hand to the shoulder. As a precaution, Irene and the guards closed their eyes.  
  
"I'm necessary evil."  
  
A painful and inhuman cry echoed through the entire mega-mansion as Barrett clenched his big fist around Karl's throat in one whack and pressed his free palm on his face, then doubled it too which caused Karl's eyes to explode, his nose and jaw to break sideways. It was that brutal and harsh that Karl swallowed his teeth and convulsed with pain before he lost consciousness and his body smashed to the floor. Blood flowed and scattered through the carpet to all four directions till it reached the hostages who began to squeal like pigs.  
  
"Don't wanna kill him? So nice of you, man." Netek stated, completely unimpressed by the sight.  
  
"He's not worth it. Better he stays alive and lives in constant poverty and hunger. This will be the best punishment for him, till his last days," Barrett explained and then looked over to the silent guards. "I'd be pleased if you help to transport the guests and Karl here to the ship when Netek is done with them, Fredgar."  
  
"Of course, Captain," the long-haired guard affirmed slightly twitching as his name came up.  
  
"How is your wife doing? Heard the birth of your first child wasn't easy."  
  
"The contractions lasted three full days. But she made it and now we are parents of a beautiful daughter, Lara... Without your help, she would have died there in the clinic. Thank you, Captain. We owe you everything. Really."  
  
Barrett shook his head. "You owe me nothing. Just stop calling me captain, Fredgar. Only my enemies call me that way. Barrett is enough. And if you, your wife and daughter ever need something, just ask and don't wait so long again, okay?"  
  
"Okay, thanks... Barrett," Fredgar stated, cheeks reddening.  
  
"And you, Simon. Heard you finally found a woman who wants to marry you silly ass."  
  
The guard next to Fredgar scratched his head and chuckled sheepishly. "Yeah, Maria and I will marry next summer in Tretogor. Chasing her for years finally paid off, I guess, hehe."  
  
"Hope my baby girl and I can count us as your guests."  
  
"Absolutely. When the time has come, you and Milady van Engelsberg get the invitation... Barrett."  
  
Irene smiled at Simon and gave him a wink.  
  
"Good. If you now excuse me, I need to talk to Netek here, in private," Barrett stated and walked to the window at the other side of the room.  
  
"You didn't come here for Little-dick Karl, I fuckin' know that. What's the real purpose of yer arrival, man?"  
  
"I came actually to ask you for two favors. This time, for myself."  
  
"And they were?"  
  
"First, you have to go to Ofir and look for two women, slaves to be more precise. Their names are  Sylviane and Tyeenna. I asked Abdul to buy them at the slavery auction for me. Your task is to go to him and bring those girls to Novigrad."  
  
"Alright," Netek memorized everything. "To whom should I deliver those girls?"  
  
"Stefan Skellen."  
  
"That nilfgaardian pussy? Why?"  
  
"Stefan needs them to settle one of his matters. More info would bore you, believe me."  
  
"And the second favor?"  
  
"There are... convincing signs that my sister January is in Ofir too and looking for me."  
  
Netek's green eyes widened. "January is here? On the continent? Since when?"  
  
"For a long time already. Carthia told me that she has seen her once in Novigrad and in Passiflora asking whores about my whereabouts. Funny, I know. What I want from you is to look out for her in Ofir and identify her. Nothing more. And keep your cover intact. Don't show her any sign of recognition."  
  
"No problem. Ye can count on me as always. I ask myself if your other sisters have been here as well. Shouldn't we be more concerned about this development?"  
  
"No. We keep sticking with the plan. It was just a matter of time until they would find this world and look for us," Barrett made clear and handed over two octagonal stones with magic sigils on both side. "Use those teleporter stones to travel to Ofir and back to Novigrad."  
  
"Sounds good to me. I will immediately head off when I finished this here. Only one question if you allow."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"The witcher boy, Geralt. You don't usually forbid me to kill someone. Why this time?"  
  
"Because Geralt plays an important role in our plans. His... good health is essential to make sure that the number of possible casualties remains small. Otherwise, everything could get really bloody for all parties and I prefer simplicity to complexity, as long as it is an option," Barrett clarified. "And you shouldn't underestimate the witcher at all. Even if I am totally convinced that you're superior to him in terms of strength, combat technique, and stamina, Geralt proved over the last decades several times to be a very adaptive and resilient contemporary if the situation demanded it from him. He and his witcher friends are taboo for you. At least for the time being."  
  
"Alright," Netek sighed in annoyance. "As much as I want to kill him, I will bow myself to yer greater plan. But if the time has come, you will remove your protective hand over him and let me do what those pussies Vilgefortz and Eredin couldn't."  
  
"Deal. And thank you, **Aamon**."  
  
"Ah, don't mention it. I just wonder whether January is gonna recognize me or not, hehe."  
  
Before Barrett could say something, Irene approached and snuggled into his arms, feeling the dominant grasp of his hand fondling her butt. "Nety, I decided to help you with Yenna but you have to buy exactly what I told you, okay?"  
  
"Sure, Iry. What is it?"  
  
"Yenna will have her magic back and this means that you have to be more... let's say creative the next time when you meet her," Irene explained as Barrett's hand slipped under the hem of her short dress and pressed against her aching pussy, rubbed it as if he owned her. "You... you have to buy her special heeled boots; Winter Collection 2A, vintage 1232. Don't buy her the 2B version. They have to be the 2A. You can use those heels as a shield against Yenna to prevent her from throwing lightning balls at you."  
  
"Heeled boots, 2A, 1232, Winter Collection. Alright. What else?"  
  
"And black, thigh-high stockings including garters and straps, the label 'Lise Charmel' of the Putrid Nights Collection, 6f, vintage 1237. These stockings will make her talking. Use both of them."  
  
"They cost fifty-two thousand crowns, by the way," Barrett added and Netek's eyebrows almost jumped off. "Just saying..."  
  
"Fuckin' hell so much?! What are they made of? Diamonds and platinum?"  
  
"Nety, if you want to hold hand with a sorceress of my Yenna's beauty, then you have to invest real money first. But you know perfectly she is worth the effort, so don't disappoint me," Irene said and enjoyed Barrett's fingers playing with the top of her princess butt plug. "Shall we go now, honey?"  
  
"Yeah. I wanna fuck you in the gondola, baby girl," Barrett stated with his masculine voice.  
  
"Pretty please..."


	2. CP1: Ves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ves is in Velen and helping out Roche with his fake guerilla campaign against Nilfgaard Forces by simply doing nothing. Roche's one-sided decision leads to events that bring Ves on the verge of becoming the Blue Stripes' company whore. Almost...
> 
> Tags: F/M, hypnosis, anal sex, blowjob, rough sex, dirty talking, impregnation
> 
> Word count: 15.122
> 
> Author's comment: Guys, this is an unusually 'big' scene to introduce Ves into the main story including an unusually 'big' sex scene near the end. You should know that this is a great exception and will not happen again. Nonetheless, I didn't want to unnecessarily split it up and then stretch her personal story so you just have to read less for now. I hope you will still enjoy it. Take your time if necessary. Thanks.

It didn't suppose to be like this.  
  
Ves was sitting around the campfire with her Blue Stripes comrades and twiddling her thumbs, speaking about the war as if it was happening in a very far place and not being their concern, as if Nilfgaard wasn't their greatest enemy and oppressor anymore, as if they had given up their hope for an independent and free Temeria.  
  
The morale of the troop was chastened, in the best case. Instead of fighting a countrywide partisan war and helping the people in the near villages, Vernon Roche considered it best to abstain and do nothing about the marauding nilfgaardian forces murdering male temerians, raping and enslaving the females before burning their beloved homes to the ground.  
  
And this wasn't even the worst part of it. By far...  
  
What Ves and the other soldiers hated most was the fact that they were ordered by Roche to ignore their cries and pleas for help, turn them away without offering an alternative place to hide or an explanation. Every one of the Blue Stripes remembered what thing of horribleness occurred after the very first time they had to do this.  
  
One morning, a temerian peasant and father of three little sons at the age of five, seven, and nine had achieved to escape from a nilfgaardian death squad in his village and to reach the camp. Out of breath and with two kids in his arms and one sitting on his shoulders, he stood before the two soldiers Ruclei and Lisuk who were the youngest and most inexperienced members of the unit and begged them to let them inside, to rescue them.  
  
Totally overwhelmed by the situation, Ruclei and Lisuk were just up to wave them through as Roche and soldiers appeared at the entrance to the cave, woken up by the noise and children's cry. Instead of doing what was right and everyone expected, Roche ordered both soldiers to not let them inside and - if necessary - to force them to turn around and go back wherever they came from. Everyone looked at each other like it was some sort of a bad joke but Roche was dead serious and repeated his orders several times.  
  
Ves will never forget the father's desperate attempts to hand over his children to Ruclei and Lisuk, his plea to save them at least while they clung to their father and not wanted to go without him, not leave him. But every time the soldiers held one of the children in their arms, Roche grabbed and gave them back. The whole situation quickly turned into a heart-breaking nightmare, and Ves, the second-in-command, had to even enforce Roche's given commands against her own will.  
  
And when the father and his little kids were finally gone and silence fell over the place for few minutes, the real problem raised from the soldiers' hearts; an insurrection. Half of the eighty-six men drew their swords and crossbows, aiming right at Roche's head, accusing him of treachery and demanding his head spiked on a spear. Only with pain and misery, Ves and Fenn (third-in-command) were able to calm the angry mob down before everything turned into a damn bloodshed.  
  
Ves persuaded Roche to send a little squat after the people and check out what was going on there. Having no other choice, he teeth-gnashingly agreed and let them ride out under Ves' command. When they arrived at the village, a horrific scene revealed itself to the soldiers' eyes, something Ves will never get out of her head again. Within thirty minutes, only fucking thirty damn minutes, the nilfgaardians achieved to burn down the peasants' homes and slaughter each one of them. Their pale bodies were spread all over the place while the disgusting stench of death made the wide-eyed guests blow chunks and fell off their horses.  
  
And this wasn't the worst. Not yet...  
  
As Ves came closer to something that looked like a big pile of burned bodies in the middle of the village, she recognized the three wooden toys the kids had in the hands when they cried and begged them for help, their tearful eyes piercing through their souls. This was the very moment when Ves collapsed and fell to her knees, couldn't hold back her tears. The feeling of futility and failure gnawed on her, as she yelled her frustration into the world.  
  
They could have saved them. Each one of them. Why didn't they?!?  
  
A question she wanted to ask Roche and not let it remain unanswered, no matter what his reasons were or not. Back in the camp, the turmoil was in full spate, and as Ves told everyone what happened, the atmosphere slumped even more. People called for blood. Roche's blood.  
  
Being cornered and facing the inevitable, Roche finally came up with the truth, or let's say confession, as he told that his main goal was always the long hedge of a free Temeria. Therefore, he would have stricken up an alliance with the former Redanian spymaster Sigismund Dijkstra and former Temerian spymaster, Thaler.  
  
Together, they would have secretly conversed with Nilfgaardian messengers to report back to Emhyr, with the emperor promising to recognize Temeria as a vassal state to Nilfgaard while the rest of the north would be swallowed up by the Empire if the group could help him win the war, if Roche stopped attacking their supply routes and troops in the area once and for all.  
  
Roche's explanation instantly resulted in a mass exodus of soldiers. More than forty men left the unit and kept accusing him of being a traitor and nilfgaardian whore, telling that they would rather die in freedom than live as slaves under the nilfgaardian oppression. The other half of the unit stayed. Among them were Fenn, Igo, Oven, and Finch. Even though Roche had expected such reaction, he was visibly shocked by the sheer number, and how he told her later, the men's shortsightedness in political matters having an impact beyond their short horizon.  
  
And as if all these things hadn't been worse enough a day before, the remaining men and Ves suffered a huge loss in the next morning. Ruclei and Lisuk's bodies were dangling in the air. Both young men committed suicide by putting a rope around their neck and jumping down from the third floor of the cave. In their last letters, both explained that they couldn't live knowing that they had left those three children for the certain death.  
  
Ves will never forget how Lisuk's elder brother wept bitterly and held him in his arms, swinging back and forth in despair, not wanting to let go of his little brother's pale body while constantly calling Roche a child murderer and rat. The sight pierced marrow and bone. Only Ves could keep him from starting an attack on Roche. However, this didn't stop more soldiers to leave the unit. In the end, their number remained at twenty-eight.  
  
A disaster.  
  
In only twenty-two hours, the whole situation turned into a nightmare and Ves wished she had never become a soldier of the Blue Stripes and never joined the Temerian Forces at all.  
  
It was that bad.  
  
And as if Roche's reputation and authority as a captain weren't battered enough and on a verge to vanish into thin air, he also laid down new rules which prohibited every soldier to leave the camp, to receive and send letters to their relatives and friends, or to order drugs, alcohol, and yes, prostitutes. Many men including Ves protested in strongest terms but Roche remained firm, stated that these measures were necessary to minimize the risk that someone unintentionally disclosed their plans, even though those men who already left them knew them too, of course.  
  
Roche didn't care for logic.  
  
And today, after full seven months and one boring day after another, demoralization and hopelessness completely gained the upper hand in the camp and they were staring into space. Occasionally, few soldiers had gotten the permission to go grocery shopping in the Devil's Pit, buy beer and visit the doctor. Thanks to Barrett, they hadn't been starving or fighting diseases. He was taking care of them, without fuss or quibble.  
  
Well, not thoroughly if Ves had to be honest. His brothel in the Devil's Pit was still a no-go area, even though Barrett possessed a big and the only one in Velen and its vicinity. In this very point, Roche remained adamant, said the men shouldn't be too distracted by carnal desires and remain ready when the war broke out again, and the soldiers kept following his instructions.  
  
Yet.  
  
Over the past months, Ves more and more realized that those instructions affected her as well. Not in a direct sense like it did the men but by her own presence in their midst. As the only woman in their unit, Ves knew that she demanded a lot from her comrades and how they were frequently looking at her when they thought she wouldn't see them. Ves knew what they desired and would do to her if she weren't the woman she was now and known for.  
  
To make something clear. During all the time she was with Blue Stripes and in this stupid cave hiding like an idiot instead of fighting like a skellige valkyrie, Ves had never gotten sexually harassed, insulted, or actually abused, not even slapped across her backside. Not a single man had ever made a sexually suggestive comment about her. Not once. About other women, yes. But about her, again, never.  
  
In the beginning, Ves always thought it was because of Vernon Roche, of course. But the truth was simpler and more satisfying. Her comrades respected her first and foremost because of her remarkable sharpshooter and sword skills, and because she had fought countless times, side by side, in battles on the frontline, and survived where many died. This was why they were seeing her as the unit's lucky charm and as one of them.  
  
But as much as this fact was still true, Ves had to come to realize that the situation in this camp was different of what the unit was usually dealing with. Under normal circumstances and after successfully fulfilling their missions, Vernon Roche usually allocated enough free time to the soldiers to pursue their needs like seeing their families, getting drunk and stoned together, and yes, spending their hard-earned orens on prostitutes in the next brothel.  
  
Everything was in balance. Here in this damn camp outside the civilization, the situation was a completely different one. They had been three times already when Ves caught men masturbating in their own tent, one of them with a self-made picture of hers with her tits out and calling for a big cock. As the second-in-command, Ves confiscated it of course but the soldier kept jerking off as if nothing happened.  
  
Another time, Ves caught men talking about a popular fantasy in which she would quit the service and instead secretly work as the unit's personal whore behind Roche's back. Every man would have their fun with her and free to abuse her mouth, tits, pussy, and asshole as rough as possible. And she would love to get gangbanged and treated as a slut, of course. When they saw her standing right behind them and understood that she heard everything, they just gave her a wink and continued to fantasize again.  
  
Ves was getting more and more issues to keep order. The inhibition level had extremely decreased and Roche seemed to prefer ignoring the problem. And yes, Ves told him everything about her experiences. He only countered that as long as they left her well alone and didn't pressure her in any way, there was no problem at all. Ves fumed at the ignorance.  
  
Not that she was concerned about the little possibility the men could eventually come to the decision to 'forcefully' let their filthy imaginations run free, but how this attitude opened the floodgates to future insubordination and increased the chance of little group formations within the unit itself. These groups could cover up for their comrades' infringements, for instance, if someone left the camp in the middle of the night to visit the brothel and his accomplices lied to her about it.  
  
Briefly speaking, by giving the men too much space, you risked the loss of authority. And once authority was lost, it was very hard to regain it, or even impossible.  
  
And out here, this could bring about ruin.  
  
And worse.

* * *

"I have to go to Oxenfurt and speak with Radovid, Ves. You'll be in command in the meantime," announced Roche while squatting and bagging up few things. Ves just entered the place and was taken by surprise by Vernon's plan.  
  
"Now? When were you planning on telling me that?"  
  
"Did I not just tell you about it? What's your problem this time, Ves?"  
  
"My problem is that my commanding officer thinks that I'd be a good idea to leave his men in this very stupid times," Ves explained and crossed her arms, pressing her lips in annoyance. "Roche, your presence is essential. Don't know if I can still fully enforce your word here."  
  
"You will handle it. Always do. Just make sure that they don't do anything stupid and the Blue Stripes still exist as a unit." Roche smirked slightly and throw his bag over his shoulder. "I'll be back on Wednesday again. Cross your fingers the bastard doesn't know anything about our deal with Emhyr. Otherwise, I'll never get back and you have to grapple with these nitwits of so-called special forces."  
  
Roche's smirk got broader.  
  
"Great... Now I feel even better, knowing that I can really become their commanding officer someday. Just get your ass back here again as fast as possible, Vernon!" Ves shivered at the idea to become the leader of this lazy pack and genuinely wished it would not come to that. She and Vernon always used to be together, as a team and as best friends. This should never change.  
  
Ves accompanied Roche to the main hall where he talked to the twenty-eight soldiers and informed them about his plans, and that he expected to find everything at his exact place when he was back again. The rules remained the same. No permission to go out, no communication and contact with other people, no drugs and pussies. He trusted them to not make Ves' life as miserable as possible. That was all. Roche was never a copious speaker.  
  
The soldiers nodded and sighed, then saluted respectfully. Outside, Ves and Fenn watched together how Roche rode off into the sunny horizon where the beautiful buildings of Oxenfurt were garnishing the scenery. Waiting a moment to absorb the warm feeling, Ves didn't realize that Fenn had already returned back into the cave. His behavior was conspicuous during the last two months, calm and unobtrusive but atypical for someone who always spoke out and reminded everyone, especially her, of possible mistakes and dangers, which was his job as the third-in-command, of course.  
  
Ves' instinct didn't betray her as she walked back and saw with widened eyes how Fenn and the soldiers, packed and ready to take a journey to whoever knows where, were standing side by side, joking and laughing together.  
  
"What the hell is going on here?!"  
  
Fenn turned and smiled friendly. "What does it look like, Ves? We're leaving too."  
  
"What the f--" muttered Ves and looked angrily, letting her sight float over the men. "If this is a joke, Fenn, then you should know I'm really not in the mood for it. You all doing this because you wanna make fun of me in my first minutes as your commanding officer, don't you?"  
  
"No, we are leaving. Actually leaving this place, Ves. Planned this weeks ago. You should come with us. Here is nothing to gain for your, either," added Finch, the marksman.  
  
Ves instantly drew her sword. "This is betrayal, insubordination, and desertion all at once, boys. Roche will court-martial you if he--"  
  
"In accordance with which governmental law and institution, hm?" asked Finn and stepped closer. "Temeria doesn't exist anymore. Foltest doesn't exist anymore. His children, Boussy and Anaïs, are dead or missing. Adda is Radovid's personal whore. Temerian peers have sold their asses and titles to nilfgaardian and redanian aristocrats. And the temerian people have resigned themselves to their new oppressors... and those who didn't get raped, enslaved, or murdered in the meantime."  
  
"Enough!" Ves shouted, not wanting to listen to what she knew was the truth. "We are supposed to be a family and as long as we stick together, Temeria will always continue to exist. Vernon Roche--"  
  
"Roche is a good fighter, a good commander, and a good strategist BUT has NO fucking idea of politics and leading a fucking revolution, Ves. You know that," interrupted Finch energetically. "If not Radovid or Dijkstra is gonna betray him, Emhyr certainly will. We can't trust them, any of them. If we wanna live to see Temeria free again, we have to do it by ourselves. It won't happen if we just wait, kiss up and suck flaccid cocks! We have to snooker them into the situation where they have no other choice but to accept a free Temeria. And fucking hell, if it's necessary, we are more than ready to die for the right cause. Am I right, MEN!?!"  
  
"Oorah!!! Oorah!!! Oorah!!!" shouted the entire unit with a lot of self-confidence and pride. As much as Ves needed to disagree and tell the men they must be wrong, she couldn't stop her eyes from welling up and shedding tears. This was the reason why she joined the Blue Stripes. Why she was so proud of being a temerian girl and a warrior. This was it. And the feeling was as addictive as at the very day Foltest himself gave her the unit's badge.  
  
After wiping off her tears, Ves sighed and sheathed her sword again. "Boys, I honestly feel the same way but sipping out on Roche isn't right. Wait and speak with him. Even he knows it can't go on like this. C'mon. Do it for me."  
  
"I love you, Ves. We all do. You know that," acknowledged Fenn and smiled. "But we all know Roche as well. If he had set his mind on something, no one can talk him out of it. No matter how futile and stupid his idea and plan is. He's a damn pighead, girl."  
  
"So, therefore it is justified to disappear and escape like this and leave him alone?"  
  
"We don't escape nor disappear! Our objective isn't a secret, Ves. The Devil's Pit. We will head off there to amuse ourself for a short period of time. I already informed our former friends. They're ready to take up the fight again. We will meet them and bring the whole family together again."  
  
Ves couldn't believe what she was hearing. "This is... this is insane, guys."  
  
"Join us, Ves. Come with us. You don't owe Vernon anything anymore. You owned the right to wear this armor and carry this badge thousands of times already. Give you a start," Fenn said.  
  
"No!" Ves protested with a heart-bleeding. "I'll not break with Roche. Not this way. As much as I think you are right and Roche is wrong, Fenn, I couldn't ever live knowing I let him down this way." She placed her left hand on his shoulder and looked straight into his eyes. "And you will regret this. Believe me. After you have drunk your beer and fucked your prostitutes, you will quickly realize your mistake and come back. The moment you have spent the last dime of your money, you are dust. And then, you will ask Roche's forgiveness... We all know what will happen."  
  
Fenn and the others kept quiet, didn't say a word. As they were up to leave the cave for good, Ves uttered confidently," I give you twenty-four hours, boys. Tomorrow, you will be here again.  You'll see."  
  
In this very moment, Ves couldn't picture to herself how wrong she was going to be...

* * *

It wasn't the first time when men moved away from the camp, secretly and thought she wouldn't have noticed it. In all cases, those men returned after a few hours after they got their head together and some free space. Ves abstained from punishing them because she knew herself how cramped the camp could make someone feel if you had to see the same people every day, from the moment you opened your eyes till you went to sleep.  
  
But this time, it was different. The first day without the soldiers passed quickly. Ves used the free space and loneliness to do inventory, mop the caves, read a romantic drama about the eternal love between a vampire and a sorceress (and a witcher and a white wolf trying to destroy it), and a long shower since the daily water ration of the entire unit belonged to her now. Even falling asleep was so nice without the pandemonium of male snoring.  
  
When the first day was over, Ves became more and more impatient. The healthy silence turned into an awkward one. The knowledge the camp could be attacked any minute by nilfgaardian forces or even worse bandits exacerbated the discomfort even more. Each little strange tweet coming from outside made Ves twitch at day and startle her out of her sleep at night. She was literally sitting ducks.  
  
The third day was filled with self-doubts and the question of how she was going to explain Vernon the dead emptiness of the camp. Ves was ready to say something like - hey, Vernon. How you doing? By the way, the entire unit has disbanded and there are no Blue Stripes anymore. But apart from that, everything else is okay now - and then hoped the ground would open and swallow her up so she didn't need to endure his bollocking.  
  
For the first time in her life, Ves was really anxious about the possibility Fenn and the others could really mean business and carry the matter too far only to prove her and Vernon their point. In case they didn't really return, she would have failed as the second-in-command and commanding officer. Something Ves had to avert by all means.  
  
So, at the fourth day, Ves decided to go the Devil's Pit and speak with the men, convince them by arguing and promising upcoming necessary changes with the plans, even though they weren't arranged with him. Nonetheless, Ves preferred to argue with Vernon and Fenn together in a camp full of soldiers than alone in an empty one.  
  
Afternoon, Ves prepared her horse and rode to the gate of the Devil's Pit which wasn't far off from the camp. Luckily, the sky was blue and the sun warming up her pale skin. It was a beautiful day. Butterflies were jumping up and down from the flowers to the air, birds tweeting in happiness. Velen could be such a beautiful place if people didn't try to kill each other.  
  
Standing at the gate, Helmut, a former nilfgaardian soldier and now a deserter working for Barrett, greeted her friendly. "Hey, Ves old girl. Here for new supplies again?"  
  
Ves gave Helmut a short hug and smiled back. The last ten times, he had helped her to load up the carts Barrett was providing them with. Without Helmut, Ves and the others would never have made it so quickly and fuss-free back to the camp again. He was a true sweetheart.  
  
"Really wished it would be because of that but no, honestly... Did you see Fenn and the others?"  
  
Helmut nodded and kept smiling. "The first half is getting rat-arsed in the tavern and the other half making the wenches rich in the brothel. Fenn, Finch, and the others should be still in the whorehouse as far as I got correctly informed, Ves."  
  
"What a surprise," Ves joked sarcastically and then coughed slightly, stepped closer. "Is Barrett here by chance? I really need to talk to him. It's urgent."  
  
"No, he isn't. Sorry to tell you that, Ves. As far as I heard, he and lady van Engelsberg had some important business in Lan Exeter... But I'm just a bouncer," Helmut joked. "What do I know?"  
  
"Then you have no idea when he will return?"  
  
"Again, I'm just a bouncer of a little village. I hear things, not more. Sorry."  
  
"No problem. When Barrett is back, could you please tell him that I really need to talk to him?"  
  
"Sure. Right away when I see him. You can count on that."  
  
Ves give off a relieving sigh. "Alright. I should better go now. It was good to see you again, Helmut. And thank you for everything. Take care of yourself!"  
  
"You too, girl."  
  
The guard opened the door and let Ves inside. The entire place was filled with people and peasants talking with each other and doing the shopping. Originally, the Devil's Pit used to be an abandoned quarry with a round diameter including four floors. At the bottom of it, there were living refugees, families with kids, and former soldiers. With an iron hand, Barrett ensured that everyone got food, water, medicine, and education for free, and protection. According to Helmut, about three two thousand people had been already settled down in the Pit's cave system and their number would be increasing every single day.  
  
On the second floor and stage, two schools, one temple of Melitele, one church of the Fire and one of the Great Sun (yes, it was even showed consideration for the nilfgaardian community), one infirmary, one Vivaldi's bank branch, and one bakery and butchery were taking place and offering their services. The third floor was specifically set aside for various stalls and pushcarts selling different types of things. Barrett was getting one percent of the merchants' turnover every week. The normal inhabitant didn't pay a dime of taxes.  
  
Finally, the fourth floor was containing the guards' barracks, one big stable, the prison, the place of execution, the Gwent club, and the brothel, of course. The tavern itself was just next to the gate and in between the quarry and connected to the brothel via a unique cave system independent from the main one. Ves heard once that in the basement would be holding special events containing mass orgies and other naughty ceremonies but never had a chance to get a glimpse of them.  
  
And above all this, Barrett was ruling like a king of his own city-state. Ves didn't know how he achieved that but the nilfgaardians, redanians, and even bandits were avoiding and leaving the place alone. The Devil's Pit had established itself as a neutral ground and last sanctuary for war victims regardless of origin, race, gender, and social rank. The common folk and merchants admired him as a holy savior BUT tried to avoid him like the Catriona plague. Why?  
  
Barrett's arrival on a place was always met with fear and awe, as no one but him himself knew where or upon whom his attention will fall. Since Barrett preferred to leave people alone and allowed them to live their own lives they way they wanted and used to, and he only showed up when someone acted against the rules, caused turmoil or jeopardized the public tranquility, his presence, and active intervention were greatly feared, ended very often very bloody and brutal.  
  
Ves heard once Helmut saying that as long as you didn't have to make acquaintance with Barrett in person, everything was okay with and in your life. But if you had to, then better be honest, penitent, and confident. Or just quicker and better them him in killing people. Ves had to laugh at the image someone could be that. There were reasons why Barrett had worked for Foltest as his personal assassin and more precisely as a bogeyman, why he hated the given military title of a "Captain" by him, and why he and Vernon were like big brothers to her.  
  
Barrett's history in the Temerian Special Forces and Intelligence could fill an entire novel series. Not to mention about his relationship to her and Vernon.  
  
After passing the Gwent club, Ves entered the brothel called 'The Devil's Girls' and let her gaze wander through the main hall brimfull with men and whores alike. It wasn't hard to find Fenn and Finch sitting at a large, round table where a so-called stripper was dancing upon and around a steel vertical pole. There were four such tables placed around the main hall including an oval-shaped senior platform in the middle where three sexy girls were giving the erotic performance of their lives. Below this platform on all its sides was the bar and its counter full of sitting men drinking and enjoying the show. Since Ves was never inside this brothel, her eyes widened in amazement at its ambiance and size.  
  
"Ah, look who is here to see us," Fenn stated with a cheesy smile, had obviously visited a barber and let his head shaved clean and trim his beard a goatee. The same went for Finch, with the only difference that he seemed to let his beard trim a circle one - like Barrett. "So you finally saw reason. Good girl."  
  
Ves took a seat between both men and tightened her eyebrows.  
  
"No. I'm actually here to convince you about a return, Fenn."  
  
"Oh, damn that's gonna be funny then. Okay. We are listening."  
  
One of the barmaids came by and put a mug down on the table, filled it with beer. When she was gone, Ves took a long drink and wiped her lips clean.  
  
"Boys, I just wanted to say that you got your point across, alright? I agree with you on many things, on Roche's mistakes, the war, the future, the company's role in it. On everything. As the second-in-command, I promise you I will talk to Roche and he won't have another choice than to make a strategy shift. He will--"  
  
"We already told you, Ves. NO fucking talks anymore. If you're going to talk the talk, you've got to walk the walk. You know that," Fenn made clear, eyes blazing angrily. "Roche has forgotten that. Forgotten who we used to be... Fuck him. Fuck his gay asshole Emhyr and Dijkstra. Fuck them all!"  
  
"Yeah, fuck Roche and his stupid rules and less well-off policy understanding," Finch added.  
  
"And what is the alternative without Roche? Who will finance your fight, your cause, hmm?"  
  
"Barrett will and the people of Temeria."  
  
"Bullshit. You both know Barrett only helps us because of Roche and his friendship to him," Ves hissed, let her fist smash against the table. "Not because he gives a fucking damn about what happens to Temeria... And you are talking about the temerian people? Have you gone once to the caves and saw what the situation of those people really is right now? What have they been gone through? They are BROKE, gentlemen. Just escaped with their lives and no more than a fright. You get nothing from them. Forget it!"  
  
"Then we will steal what we need from our oppressors, dammit! Ambushed their patrols and convoys, take back what is ours. We will look after ourselves!"  
  
Ves gave off a heavy sigh. "Yes, because that worked so well for the Scoia'tael too."  
  
"Fucking shit..." Finch cursed and emptied his cup.  
  
"Boys, if we like it or not, Roche is our only chance and hope to realize a free Temeria." As Fenn intended to interrupt, Ves placed her hand on his and looked him into the eyes. "He will relax the rules and change his plan. You have my word on that. He has to."  
  
"Ves, girl... As much as we respect you, and you know that... what makes you believe he will listen to you now after ignoring your objections over the last months?"  
  
"Because I will threaten to go and talk to Barrett myself if necessary," Ves explained. "Roche is not the only one who is on good terms with him, you know."  
  
Fenn and Finch exchanged glances.  
  
"You all have saved up your orens over the last years, and what is it worth now? Almost nothing, right?" Ves hinted. "How long until your savings are depleted and you all haven't enough money even to hire the cheapest crack whore in Novigrad?"  
  
Index finger slowly circling around the mug's edge, Fenn kept quite and reflected about her words. Ves was in a cheerful spirit that both finally saw her point, as Fenn looked up and smirked slightly, lips closed. Something in his eyes told Ves she wasn't going to like what he was going to say to her.  
  
"We'd really like to believe you, Ves. Really. But you have proven yourself too often of only being Roche's henchman... woman... whatever. You know what I mean. Who doesn't say we all go back and you do nothing, play for time? What is our guarantee you don't just forget about us? Who says we won't keep doing the same thing  again?"  
  
Finch nodded to his friend in approval.  
  
"What have you mind, Fenn? C'mon, stop the chit-chat and tell me what you want?" Ves asked in annoyance as she recognized how his gaze fell down to her cleavage and c-cup tits, and he licked his lips before looking up again.  
  
"I promised the men we would proceed and move forward with our lives. When I shall tell them to go back and sit on our hands, again, then I need to offer them an incentive, something they are ready to accept and use as a pledge, something it helps to keep order in the unit until the necessary changes have taken place, by Roche and you," Fenn argued blatantly. "In other words, Ves, if we can't go visit or take along the whores we need, someone else has to take their place in their stead. Do you understand me?"  
  
Shaking her head in disbelief and disgust, Ves was at a loss for words for a moment. Fenn and Finch weren't laughing nor joking, dead serious about their proposal, or better say demand. After all those years, even words of long-standing comrades were obviously worth nothing. In the end, it was still a matter of whether having a cock or a pussy. And who was fucking who.  
  
"Are you serious?" Ves hissed, at verge to completely lose her temper. "Are you shitheads really serious about this?!"  
  
"It is how it is, Ves. Accept it or leave it. And don't take it so personally, girl."  
  
"Not personal?!?" Ves shouted. "You expect from me to prostitute myself for the entire unit, and not take this insult so personally? Are you fucking nuts?!?"  
  
"You have done much more humiliating and worse things for Roche," Fenn tossed in. "Remember when you let yourself get enslaved and sold by the havekar to the Scoia'tael in Brokilon so we could locate their exact position? You were undercover for three whole months. Three fucking months. Or do you remember the deal with King Henselt for the time we were guests in his camp in Aedirn? How Roche himself sent you like his little whore to Henselt's royal tent, and this every night to ensure the deal remained in order? Two weeks, dammit. And you never made the slightest sound and complaint. Or how you----"  
  
Ves couldn't hold herself back anymore and jumped up, took her heavy mug and poured down the beer Fenn's balded head and then threw the empty mug in Finch's teeth. The crowd couldn't stop laughing and applauded.  
  
"FUCK! YOU!" Ves yelled and let her deadly gaze wander from Fenn to Finch. The urge to use her fists increased incrementally but she was able to regain her composure. "I HOPE YOU BURN IN HELL, MOTHERFUCKERS!!!"  
  
With one turn, Ves headed back to the door, seeing red. She would have set the entire brothel on fire if the establishment wasn't owned by Barrett. Outside at the wooden railing, Ves kept cursing and asking herself why all these things had to happen to her. Every time Roche fucked things up, she had to pay for it, mostly by her body and price. And she had even warned him about the problem of authority, and the consequences of the loss.  
  
Now, the fat's in the fire...  
  
As she calmed down again, Ves' gaze wandered over the people patting and hugging each other, telling jokes and just being happy about the fact they survived and were safe now. Children were playing tag and enjoying the day. Here in the Devil's Pit, the world was alright and the war far away, a someone else's problem. But the issue was deceptive, reboiling in the shadows.  
  
During all her time with the Blue Stripes, Ves had to make a lot of sacrifices. And the truth was that even though she had gone through the same physical and psychological training like the others in the company, most of her active missions had generally revolved around the circumstance she was a woman, meaning she had to do things men couldn't; impersonating a prostitute, sex slave, or a hussy whose ninety-nine percent of the job was to infiltrate a male target (mostly smugglers such as havekar and elven slavers) and its male surrounding by getting used, screwed, and abused by them, so she could extract the necessary information and deliver it to Vernon Roche, who, in return, could shine and appear as a white knight in the place, rescue her and eliminate the suspects.  
  
Mission accomplished. Terrorist wasted. Temeria, ten. Scoia'tael, zero.  
  
And Ves never rose a complaint, not a damn one time. She always considered it as her duty and a necessity to win every battle, despite how disgusting and humiliating it was, against the relentless enemy. And she was always successful and her comrades acknowledged her efforts, respected her for her sacrifices.  
  
How did Ves learn to handle the psychological pressure?  
  
The answer was hypnosis.  
  
Vernon bought a magic crystal from a witch called Abigail who lived in her house on the outskirts of Vizima. This crystal contained a mirror image of a person created by Abigail on behalf of Vernon himself, and according to the specifics the person needed to successfully accomplish an undercover mission. Her name was Bianka. She was even officially noted in her military personnel records and used during all her undercover missions when working as a prostitute, slave, and mistress.  
  
The idea was that Ves looked into the magic crystal and got hypnotized. By doing so, her consciousness was overlapped by the Bianka character. It wasn't like she was someone else or not in control of her own body and thoughts anymore, but her decisions, the way of her enunciation and gesticulation adapted themselves to Bianka's traits. For instance, if Ves didn't much like to drink nilfgaardian beer, Bianka loved it. So, when Ves had to drink nilfgaardian beer to stay alive and to not jeopardize her mission, Ves gave in to Bianka and loved it too.  
  
Of course, the reality was revolving more about sexual kinks and sex practices than drinking habits. And there the main problem started. Bianka was like an imaginary wall. When she slept with the enemy, when she told them how much she liked their cocks and asked them to bang her harder, Ves deemed every word and action as a part of her job, every little humiliation and enjoyment alike. She psychologically disassociated herself from the situation and this way protected herself from utterly losing her mind.  
  
However, the longer the hypnosis lasted, the harder it became for Ves to distinguish her own thoughts and decisions from Bianka's. Ves was present when Abigail told Vernon about the possible and dangerous side effect; a personality disorder. If someone was hypnotized for more than six whole months, the possibility of a complete assimilation increased by fifty percent. Luckily, Ves was never that long on undercover missions so far. Her longest was about three months max.  
  
Therefore, the problem evolved more from the relative frequency. To do all the undercover missions, Ves had to make use of Bianka (yes, she addressed the hypnosis by her name) quite often within a short period of time. During the year before Foltest's death, Ves was hypnotized more than six times in a row. The conflation of her own mind and Bianka's proceeded quickly, and Ves had started to feel how her own voice became more hollow and Bianka's stronger than ever.  
  
After Foltest's death, the undercover missions ended and Ves had time to recover and find herself again, until the day with Henselt...  
  
And now Ves was supposed to do the prostitute thing without Bianka's help but with men, she considered her friends and she knew for years and decades. How could she justify her actions and odd feelings now? How should she handle the pangs of remorse popping inside her conscience? Ves had no idea but one thing she was totally sure about; if she now went back to the camp and had to tell Vernon the unit was 'gone', then she wouldn't only have to live with the knowledge she had failed but also had the opportunity in her own hands to avert it.  
  
The funny thing about this whole mess of a situation was that Barrett actually warned her years ago when she was just a rookie and applicant to become a Blue Stripes soldier. With his masculine but serious voice and gaze, he adduced reasons why women didn't suppose to serve as soldiers in the armed forces.  
  
Despite biological reasons and issues related to male protective instincts on battlefields, Barrett extensively warned her about the great possibility of becoming the unit's plaything, because men would be still men, and no matter how much a woman tried to be and acted like one of them. If they looked at her, men would always and only see, quote, a blond, sexy mare on two feet ready to get fucked and bred. Feminism and progressive thinking would never prevail against biology. Even the mere possibility was just fantasy. Period.  
  
At that day, Ves hated Barrett for saying such cruel things to her, called him a misogynistic asshole. However, over the last years of her duty and especially after her missions, she began to see the truthfulness in his statements. And today, his words literally seemed to backslash her. But Ves was a fighter more than ever and ready to swallow the bitter, red pill.  
  
Turning around, Ves entered the brothel again and directly headed to the desk Fenn and Finch were still sitting at. As both men saw her coming, they pulled their mugs toward them, for safety's sake. Nonetheless, they kept calm and didn't grimace in any mocking way.  
  
"I have three demands first if I have to play the unit's whore!"  
  
"Alright," Fenn said, taking a sip. "We're listening."  
  
Ves sat down and took a deep breath. She wasn't that nervous long ago.  
  
"First, I want your word that Roche will never ever get to know about our deal here. Do you understand me? This will remain our little family secret and each one of us will take it to the grave. Understood?"  
  
"Understood. What else?"  
  
"Second. I will remain the second-in-command and you will follow my orders as usual. No insubordination, no backtalk, no innuendos or anything else compromising my authority."  
  
"Fine. The last one?"  
  
"Third. I decide where, when, and with whom. And no tongue kissing, no anal sex, double-penetration, deepthroating, gangbang, and other sick shit. Just plain, good old sex. That's all."  
  
Chuckling to himself and looking over to Finch, Fenn remained silent for few, long seconds before he raised a bit and pulled his chair very close toward Ves the way his dark face and eyes were just a few inches away from hers. His whole calm presence changed into a threatening one.  
  
"The answer is NO," proclaimed Fenn without batting an eye once. "The men and I are watching for too long how you've been hiding behind Roche's back. This has to end and it fucking will."  
  
Ves furled her eyebrows.  
  
"This time, you will not wriggle yourself out of the affair because of your big daddy. This time, you will learn your true place in the company."  
  
Ves kept her blue eyes straight.  
  
"You were never interested in keeping the unit together. You--"  
  
"Fuck you, bitch! The Blue Stripes mean a lot more to me than to you or Roche, just to make that clear here once and for all. Who do you think kept the soldiers in line over all those years, pulled the strings so Roche could stay the leader and you become his XO, hmm?! Who do you think kept the men from killing him and raping you during all those years?!?" A cold shiver ran down Ves' back. He was dead serious. Fenn was never like this before. "Even when the half of the unit turned its back on Roche and more men went off later. And you still stuck by him. Even after what he has done to those kids and villagers!"  
  
"I talked to him SEVERAL TIMES, Fenn!" Ves blurted out, feeling cornered. "WE BOTH DID. You know what a stubborn idiot he can be! What should I have done instead in your opinion, heh?! Sleep with him?!?"  
  
"Relieve him of his duty and do your fucking job, fool!" Fenn barked, now audible to other people in the brothel too. "But you failed completely. As the second-in-command, as a soldier, and a comrade. And you haven't even talked once with the men to justify your own idleness. Not fucking one time during the last eight months in that shitty cave we called a camp!" Fenn pointed his finger at himself. "But I did. I calmed the waves. I kept the things going. I did."  
  
"Four days ago when you offered me to come with you..." muttered Ves to herself, eyes widened as she seemed to see clearly through the problem now.  
  
"This was your last chance to save your own neck," Fenn admitted. "If you had just come with us, you wouldn't be in this whole mess and your dignity still intact. But you had to side with that traitor Roche again."  
  
"You have planned all this! Tested my loyalty!"  
  
"As said before I stood in touch with all the soldiers Roche chased away since the beginning of the war. Thirteen and the others have agreed to come back and take up arms again when there is a visible and sincere change of leadership and strategy in the Blue Stripes," Fenn explained coldly. "Before they all get back, I ordered them to locate and observe Roche in Oxenfurt. Forty men are ready to take him down. The revolution is gonna happen. Whether you like it or not."  
  
The shock almost ate Ves up and left her speechless. The reality was spinning and everything seemed to made circles around her. The situation was even worse than in her darkest nightmare. After a long time, Finch raised his voice and said, "It's over, Ves. You should have stayed in the camp and not come here. Now we have to put a tight rein on you."  
  
"Y-you have planned to murder Roche... and me, right?" muttered Ves with a sour voice after things got clearer inside her head. "He should find the camp empty and look out for you. And on his way to the Devil's Pit--"  
  
"Zack!" added Finch by moving his thumb from one ear to the other, smirking.  
  
"It should have looked like a brutal assault by local bandits. No one would have ever known or seen anything. A one hundred percent chance of success."  
  
"And Barrett would have accepted me as the Blue Stripes' new leader," Ves finished her thoughts. "But I'd become just a puppet of yours, instead. You were up to enslave me, anyway. One way or the other. Right?"  
  
Fenn didn't say anything. His silence was evidence enough. In shock and distress, Ves was going through the left option in her mind's eye, even though they weren't many. Her instinct told her to run, as Fenn put something out of his pocket and placed it on the table, making Ves' blue eyes widen in shock.  
  
"You were wrong about so many things, Ves, but right about one thing. Without Barrett's support and help, we definitively won't make it far," Fenn affirmed, eyes still locked on hers. "And since he has been protecting you from the day he rescued you and gave you to Roche's custody, I'm constantly reporting him your situation and personal progress. You are important to him. But your arrival here is... inconvenient. It makes everything much more complicated."  
  
Ves starred at the magic crystal as if it was cursed and ready to eat up alive.  
  
"So, I will make you a last offer now. Use the crystal and submit yourself freely to the unit, or do nothing and be a witness of Roche's pathetic end. Your choice."  
  
"Where did you get that? I thought it was hidden somewhere."  
  
"Roche told me about it in case something happens to him and someone else could give you the crystal to break the hypnosis. And? What do you say?"  
  
A barmaid approached their table and refilled the mugs with beer. Silence shortly fell over the place and each of them waited for the barmaid's leaving. As she was gone to serve other patrons, Ves cleared her throat and looked up. "When I decide to be Bianka and serve the unit, you will let Roche live and remain the leader?"  
  
"Leader? No. But he will not die at least... As long as you do your job, of course."  
  
"You are pathetic scum. Both of you. You know that," Ves claimed venomously.  
  
Finch and Fenn exchanged glances.  
  
"Yes or no, girl."  
  
"Yes! Dammit. What of choice do I really have here?"  
  
Fenn pushed the magic crystal toward her.  
  
"Then stop talking and do it, cunt. Unleash Bianka. Now!"  
  
Not having much time to think everything through, Ves lowered her gaze and looked straight into the magic crystal and called for Bianka with her inner voice. Three short flashes sparkled back to her eyes and the currently felt pressure faded away. The ease of life took over.  
  
"Bianka?" asked Fenn curiously.  
  
After taking a deep breath with closed eyes, Ves' expression changed from lethal to a smile.  
  
"Fenn, *darling*. Why are you staring at me?" asked Ves with Bianka censoring her real thoughts to please her target.  
  
"My mistake, girl. How are you feeling?"  
  
"*Splendid*, and really *horny*," Ves admitted and giggled innocently.  
  
Looking over to his friend Finch, Finn happily indicated, "She really is it. Good. Finch, go and inform the others, send a message to Thirteen to leave Roche be. Me and Bianka here will follow you and meet up in the cave after she has gone through her personal baptism of fire and convinced me of her sincerity and devotion for our cause."  
  
Finch's smirk was disgusting and humiliating at the same time, making her cringe inside and want to knock out all his yellow, brown teeth. Bianka held her back. Roche was out of the woods, for now, and as long as she hadn't spoken with Barrett himself, she was just getting the short end of the stick. It was necessary to swallow her anger and pride for a time before beating back. And with Bianka on her side, this was really easy.  
  
After Finch's leaving, Fenn ordered her to get up and look into his eyes when he spoke to her.  
  
"The first important rule of our new, special relationship, Bianka, is that you are my girl and you need to worship me whenever and wherever I want. You know what I mean?"  
  
"Yes, *daddy*."  
  
"Damn, you are so much better than this annoying cunt, Ves."  
  
"Tell me something I don't know," Ves winked while hammering with her fists against the wall in her mind in anger. "Come on, *daddy*. Let's have some fun!"  
  
"We will, darling. Just don't forget the deal. No restrictions or complaints. If you don't take your part seriously, I can ensure you I will order the soldiers to crucify Roche and feed his guts to the dogs outside the camp, with one snap of my fingers."  
  
"Roche, *who*?"  
  
"Good girl," Fenn smirked cheesily. "Now go to the Madam and rent a room for us."  
  
Her imaginary fists shaking in wrath, Ves got up and moved to the main counter next to the stairs and where a skinny, middle-aged Madam was counting money and selling her girls to the highest bidder. As Ves stood before her, she was up to hide her current mood but Bianka had already preempted her actions and cast a beautiful smile on her face.  
  
"Good day, Madam. My name is *Bianka* and I'd like to rent a room for a few hours. Is that possible, *sweety*?"  
  
The Madam's eyes mesmerized Ves from the bottom to the top, and she was not impressed.  
  
"Sweety," she hissed kindly, "this is a brothel and not a hostel or an inn where every wannabe bitch can just come in with her recently met john and rent a room to pursue her own little business. If we would have allowed that in the Devil's Pit, half of the mothers and daughters would have already prostituted themselves, and many more."  
  
The Madam frowned at Fenn who was standing right behind Ves.  
  
"Look, sweety. For me, you are a beautiful girl with a beautiful face and trained body. You don't need to do this. Hell, you could easily join the guards here. But if you don't want that, Barrett has established a special program which allows women to do an apprenticeship and undergo different training routes. Prostitution might look to you right now like the easiest way to make money but not the most reliable one. Believe me, blondie."  
  
Before Ves could give an answer, Fenn clapped his hands and mocked the Madam.  
  
"Esmeralda, wow. Just wow. You are the nicest pimpress I've ever met on this continent. Selling girls to needy, fat, old men on one hand, and appealing to their womanly dignity on the other. So much bullshit. Fuck! My heart bleeds for you, girl."  
  
"Fenn, you asshole, don't take it too far. Or I will show you how nice I can really get," countered Esmeralda and took out a semi-automatic crossbow locked and loaded, but Fenn remained unimpressed and instead let his hand run over Ves' firm butt, fondling her like he owned her. Ves pressed her lips together because she hated it but Bianka loved it at the same time.  
  
"Forced prostitution and sex slavery are forbidden here. Blondie, is this scum here trying to compel you to do something you don't want? If this is the case, I'd be glad to help you out. Just say yes. Please..."  
  
Ves felt how Fenn's body pressed against her entire back. As his cold breath vaporized near her ear, she inwardly twitched in disgust but her body pushed itself back against him and his cock in the pants. Fenn was clearly testing her commitment, and Bianka (whatever else) loved it so much.  
  
"Oh, no. This whole situation is just a *misunderstanding*, Madam," explained Ves innocently. "I just want a calm place to have some fun with my *boyfriend* here. Nothing else. Somewhere people would least expect us both, you know."  
  
Esmeralda didn't believe her a damn word. Ves knew that. However, she clearly couldn't do much before Ves didn't say anything. "Alright. In this case, sweety, I will turn a blind eye and allow you to use one of our rooms in the basement. But I must warn you. We are using the rooms downstairs as recovery places for guests and patrons who are so drunk that they didn't make it out of the brothel, and for people who are treated for fisstech addiction. So, you are warned. Still wanna the key?"  
  
"*Pretty please*," replied Ves and giggled girlishly. "Girls like me look for dirty and dark places to have some fun. Right, *daddy*?"  
  
"Is she not sexy as hell, Esmeralda," Fenn said and gabbed Ves' tits through her cleavage and tugged at her pink nipples, causing her to gasps in unwanted delight and giggle more. Ves had officially turned herself off and Bianka took over. "I'd fuck her here and now if you'd allow it."  
  
"Please take the key and go. The first door, left. Shoo!... Crazy idiots."  
  
With Fenn's one hard spank on her butt, Ves was pushed to the stairs and trotted down the dimly lit corridor. The ground changed from the wood into muddy gravel, the sweet smell of fresh strawberries into an ugly stench full of vomit and pee. Screams of unknown people resounded through the corridor, as Ves and Fenn stood before their destined heavy door. The entire place was covered in moisture.  
  
"Damn, I like this place already. The ambiance is priceless," muttered Fenn, and opened the door and push it aside, revealing a shabby, muddy room its walls made of dark stone and wooden piers in each corner. Unsurprisingly, there weren't more things than a rotten, brown straw mattress and a wooden bowl to shit inside. That was everything. If someone was kneeling down and on all fours, she or he was wallowing in the mud.  
  
"Now take off your clothes and let daddy see your famous, tattooed body, Bianka," Ves heard Fenn saying as he closed the heavy door and locked it, making the key disappear inside his boots. Ves shed her blue, padded coat upon, and let her steel elbow pads and leather gloves drop to the ground, nervous and squirming as she dropped the things granting her a shred of authority and look of a battle-hardened warrior. As her hands slid to the hem of her white shirt, Fenn came up from behind her and held onto her waist with one hand, with the other her left c-cup bosom, kneading it dominantly.  
  
"These tits are phenomenal, girl. Big, hard and full of fresh milk... Made me horny as fuck seeing them every day through your cleavage. Knowing these big babies are company property now makes me proud of being a Lieutenant of the Blue Stripes again."  
  
"Thanks, *daddy*," Ves said, inwardly wincing as lips descended upon her neck, kissing her from behind as his hand on her waist pushed up her top, running along the sleek, soft skin of her midsection, making their way gradually to her next breasts. "If you are happy, I am too. Take what's *yours*."  
  
"Good girl," Fenn tossed in, then turned her around and pushed her up against the moist wall, bearing excited kisses down on her lips, and despite how much Ves loathed everything about it, Bianka did meet them, albeit reluctantly. Even though Ves acted like Bianka, her old life and personality remained stubbornly on the surface of her mind, and Fenn seemed to be well aware of that fact too, showing nothing else than two things; he wanted her body, and he wanted it now. "I've always wanted to fuck you. Not Ves but Bianka... How you handled Henselt's anal fetish two damn weeks long and every single night was incredible. The entire unit and the kaedweni soldiers behind the royal tent couldn't get enough of your screams."  
  
Ves inwardly twitched as Henselt's anal fetish came through, shining brilliantly as his hands grabbed at her white shirt, tearing it apart and squeezing her breasts now much harder. It came as a little surprise as the forceful kisses and fondling certainly improved by his growing attitude to dominate her like a little bitch. And at the same time, Ves had a role to play, and the was no time to start being the vulnerable and shy whore and exposing herself.  
  
"Then what are you waiting for?" Ves teased and let out a small, spontaneous moan spilling out as she pushed her breasts against his hands. "Henselt wasn't that reluctant to take claim what was his too."  
  
Fenn smiled wide. "I knew it," he said excitedly, squeezing her breasts forcefully. "You are a girl who likes it the rough, painful way. Fuck, that's hot."  
  
The vulgar assumptions were something Ves may have been able to work with if he weren't quickly pulling her away, off to the straw mattress. She felt his genuine urge to knock her up and fill her womb with his potent seed, therefore asking herself if she wanted this to go smoothly, perhaps she was better off just letting him have his way with her, fulfill the fantasy down to the last humiliating word and be done with the entire mess of a situation she had found herself in. So Bianka forced her to keep quiet, except for some feigned moans whenever he grabbed her ass until she was on her back and he was lying above her.  
  
"You are the *first* man of the Blue Stripes fucking me," Ves confessed, staring up at him with her beautiful blue eyes, as Fenn started to pull her trousers down to her knees. "And the first after Henselt."  
  
"Don't worry, Bianka. When I'm done with you, you will quickly forget Henselt again." The smile on Fenn's face was a wide and bright one. Once he had her white panties off, Ves' puffy pink mound was exposed and damp with guilty excitement that his touch had induced against her suppressed inner hopes, he started at his own pants. "Just lie back and I'll fuck you hard that you'll reconsider things you missed out in the unit all these years."  
  
It was a daring brag, but as Fenn pulled his pants down and pushed his long, thick cock against her thigh, Ves could tell that he at least had some grounding for that bravado; the large, twitching cock was certainly intimidating in ways that she dealt with by giving him another ego-boosting moan, as regrettable as it was.  
  
Fenn climbed on top of her, threw her long legs including her boots, trousers, and panties over his shoulders, pushing his thick tip against her plump labia and slowly pressing forward. The thick cock began to spread her pussy lips apart, drawing a whimper from the blonde that she hadn't intended to let loose. It was so much different than the fingers she was used to, so unyielding and thick, the turgid head of his cock giving her a moment to collect herself before Fenn pushed down into her, hands keeping him from lying flat atop her as his lower body sank down. His cock spread her passage open wide, penetrating her in a way no finger or dildo could have ever mustered, and yet another unintentional noise thrilled the soldier, as much as he was unable to tell the difference between real and fake.  
  
"Fuck, you're tight, bitch!"  
  
A guilty thrill shot up Ves' spine as felt the thick cock sinking deep into her. So big, so warm, reaching so deep so quickly... It felt incredible, and as much as Ves didn't want to admit it, she couldn't deny how good it felt as another moan clawed its way up her throat and her head rolled back against the pee-soaked mattress. Bianka, however, was on cloud nine and ashamed of showing off her excitement.  
  
Fenn seemed to get quite a kick out of her response as he drew his hips back a little, leaving her stretched out pussy feeling hollow as the absence of the thick, meaty cock for her vaginal walls to clench against sent a rush of longing through her pale, crispy body before he pushed back in, which proved all the more satisfying for how much Ves had wanted it. That was the first sign that Bianka was completely taken over the lead of her mind.  
  
"*Don't* stop. *Keep* pounding my pussy, *daddy*," Fenn heard Ves begging with a voice full of honesty, as his eyes fell down to chest with a pair of round, finger-licking breasts he wanted to see bouncing from the force of his thrusts. The seduction was lost on the horny soldier who really only wanted to fuck her every way without a worry of slowness and restraint. The stupid things didn't belong in the frantic, twisted delight he was riding the high of as he slammed into Ves.  
  
All Fenn wanted to do was fuck this female wannabe soldier who, he was firmly convinced, only made it into the unit in the first place because Roche was in need of a woman he could send to undercover missions, a talented slut. And ironically, almost everyone in the company knew about Ves' past, how she was held sex slave by a commando of Scoia'tael for many years, and even read the dead leader's personal records, how she had proved countless times what a submissive, wicked pet she used to be over those years.  
  
How Ves enjoyed the captivity and even refused to leave her elven masters, although they constantly offered her freedom and ways to go back to her own human people. Being balls deep inside of her, Fenn just got down to fucking, groping her plump tits as he fed more cock into her unbearably tight hole, each thrust pushing further down, stretching her out deeper and deeper as her pussy proved warmer and wetter with each thrust.  
  
Such a raw approach to sex, and which all that seemed to matter was the pleasure, left Ves rattled as she began to writhe on the mattress. The aggressive thrusts that quickly built up speed and left her whining and twisting in guilty delight lit up something inside of her that she had always kept under tight wraps, and she was left unable to fully put into words the immense pleasure that followed, and her blue eyes helplessly locked on his.  
  
Ves never had a chance to find and be with another man to even come close to a verge of describing it as love. Logically, during her times as a sex slave for elves or as a soldier of the Blue Stripes, there was no time for a real relationship, and especially no possibilities to meet men accepting her position in the military and job at all. No man on the continent wanted to be in a serious relationship with a female soldier or give the slightest thought to a marriage. And if a man tried to be closer to her, then just to score with her. It was very frustrating for Ves.  
  
But this was something she was totally accustomed to. This was animalistic, driven by skewed sexuality and a desire to just get off and fuck a woman in a way that did no justice to her value or worth, but in that wrongness came something exciting. As filthy as it was, as much a betrayal of her own principals to not sleep with her comrades, Ves found herself loving it more and more with each hard slam into her quickly very soaked pussy. Bianka made it possible for her.  
  
"I knew you would love it. You love being a whore more than being a soldier," Fenn uttered as he squeezed her tits, keeping them from heaving too much as his hard slams into her core made her body shake. His dark eyes fell upon her face, the way her expression twisted and contorted in raw lust with an utter disregard for decency or shame. "You know the saying for sure. There is no cure for being a cunt. And what a cunt you are. No wonder you were always so successful with your all your undercover missions, Bianka."  
  
It was a vulgar attitude that Fenn enjoyed the thought of to the slightest as he roughly fucked the fair-haired, female veteran relishing in the indulgence of his long-held fantasy, one that he was far from being the only men in the military to want to indulge in. Even the degrading comments couldn't shake Ves from how she felt as his cock hammered into her again and again. She adored everything about the way Fenn fucked her, even down the humiliating and thoroughly wrong sentiments he was spouting.  
  
"Oh, yes harder. Fuck me harder *daddy*!" Ves blurted out and her shapely body had begun to thrust upward, hips rolling and meeting his as she bit her quivering lip, delighting in the frantic pace of his thrusts. Pangs of ignorable guilt served only to excite her further as the reasons not to get off mounted backfiring as she loved it more and the with each additional problem that rose up. Ves got off on the pleasure, but the real determining factor was that she shouldn't have been, only making her get off harder in turn.  
  
Steady thrusts into her hole made Ves wetter until her pussy was soaked and leaking, her body and mind perfectly locked together in the twisted, vulgar sensations that she was relishing. The protective walls inside her mind began to break with Bianka being fully in charge. It felt just incredible to be used, to be fucked so hard and so fast without much regard for herself. And Fenn was a monster, as he made very apparent right away, but she found a thrill in being taken by someone so terrible, so concerned with his own lust and little else.  
  
It wasn't only humiliating because of the use of vulgar words or the way he fucked her that left her soaked, but in the way that she was there for his pleasure, and anything that was her own pleasure, Ves would have to take for herself.  
  
She liked it.  
  
Liked it far too much for comfort. Even for Bianka's standards.  
  
Hadn't been fucked for an almost a year now, it was little surprise when Ves cried out, head pushing back into the mattress hard as she came. She clenched down incredibly tightly around Fenn's cock as she twisted, head thumping with hard, aggressive pounding as pleasure ran in powerful waves across her trained body, making her thrash and buck as she was left to face the fact that this man had just given her the orgasm she instinctively had intense need of.  
  
Ves hadn't felt this good for such a long time she couldn't remember when the last was, at least until a second later when the clenching and pulsating of her tight, slick vaginal walls milked Fenn's cock of his own orgasm, leaving him gasping and slamming down into her one last time as his cock erupted, spurting a hot load of thick cum deep into her needy, fertile womb. The spreading sensation left her feeling even better as her afterglow set in as Ves went limp and breathless on the moist mattress, panting and shivering.  
  
In the peacefulness of the moment, the brief period where the lust shortly lifted, Ves was left with some much-needed silence and a pause to take a breath. However, the clarity faded as the clarity was suddenly beaten down by her body's cooling down bringing her back to the realization that Fenn was still buried deep inside of her and that his still utterly rigid cock made clear that he wasn't yet done with her.  
  
Not by fucking far.  
  
Pulling out of her tight pussy, Fenn groaned as he admired his own handiwork. While her sloppy pink folds were leaking with his cum, he rose up on his knees, cock slick and glistening in Ves' nectar, completely ready to go again.  
  
"Turn around and get on all fours, cunt," Fen ordered, staring at her body, which had only grown more radiant after Ves' first orgasm. The Lieutenant was having the time of his life here and wasn't ready to stop for anything. Instantly, Ves did as asked, jaw trembling as she rolled onto her stomach and then pulled herself up, lower body presented to the perverted human being she used to call a friend.  
  
There was so much about this situation that should drive her mad, none more than the fact that as she assumed the position, she found herself turned on once more. It was a twisted and devious moment as she pushed back a little, indicating her need by wiggling her hips and showing her well-fucked hole off to him in a plea for more, her legs still being pressed together since her pants and panties were sticking to her knees.  
  
"Please, *daddy*," Ves said, lowering her head in inner shame as the lust bubbled up fiercely within her once more, leaving her to surrender utterly to her desires.  
  
"Once a whore, always a whore. What a pathetic wench you are, Bianka," Fenn noted, giving her ass a rough smack that made her yelp more in surprise than in displeasure, as he lined his cock up with her dripping pussy once more. "Always bragging about how hard and awful your undercover missions were but in reality loved each one of them like a needy whore."  
  
Another slap to her ass made Ves respond with a moan, her hands gripping the bedding beneath her hands as she shamefully embraced her utter need. He was all too happy to oblige in her request, prodding her entrance with his tip, leading her on for a moment with the worry that he was going to tease her, before he drove right into her hole, slamming balls deep inside of her accommodating and velvety pussy with a single stroke.  
  
"Ahh, by the God of big cocks, YES!!" moaned Ves again, biting her lip as she stared down at the bed, consumed by lust and far less shame than she would have liked. Ves couldn't help herself. It felt too good, too utterly incredible for her to be able to deny. Bianka aside.  
  
"Fuck me," she quickly found herself moaning in addition, words she never thought she would say to a known person and comrade given the fact how important friendship always was to her, but who had become something of the past, so dark and different than she would have ever imagined, until Fenn thrust into her again for the first time, at which point rational thinking vanished in a puff of smoke, replaced only by more of that all-consuming need.  
  
Emboldened by her pleas and by the fact she was clearly loving this, Fenn put it to Ves hard in this new position. Hard thrusts buried his whole cock into her again and again, hammering into her dripping pussy as he soaked in the way she moaned, the way Ves twisted for his delight. And as if this wasn't satisfaction, there was also the incredible view of her ample c-cup breasts heaving and swaying thanks to the force of gravity, and the view of her back, the way her shoulders rolled and her spine arched, proving him that Ves was aflame and her need was so visible, so overbearing and powerful, that it was infectious.  
  
Fenn understood now more than ever why Ves was so desired by all the elven terrorists, slavers, and pimps. The firsthand experience was giving him an incredible view of her trained, tattooed body reacting delightedly to the pleasure that was constantly burning her up. Soon enough, Ves was pushing back against him, moaning as her hands moved from grabbing at the edge of the mattress to bracing against the muddy, moist wall, pushing against it for balance as she rolled her hips, loving the hard, quick thrusts into her dripping hole, but decided she would love them even more if they were not only harder but also quicker.  
  
Ves moved with purpose and addiction, feeling new things swelling within her she was so very ready to embrace. Back and forth Ves moved, bucking madly as the pleasure continued to bubble and boil inside of her, fierce and heady, something she could see herself getting used to, as much as such this something would have come with a great many problems like the psychological danger of becoming completely and utterly Bianka, for instance, or even fully losing her mind.  
  
And yet there she was, Fenn's balls deep inside of her, buying her body with the promise of keeping Roche alive to push her into these circumstances, and yet the moans spilling from her lips, the pleasured trembling of her gorgeous body, said that Ves was getting far more out of this sick arrangement than she ought to have. Bianka was clearly manipulating her sentiments, trying to protect her the reality of the situation.  
  
Fenn's balls swung forward and slapped against her clitoris with each push into her, each hilting slam into the clenching, wet heat of her pussy. It was incredible, and he couldn't get over the way her body moved, the bounce of her ass as his hips struck forward, and it was a motion his hand was more than happy to feed into the vigor of further, admiring the way it moved as he fucked her. In fact, watching it gave him other ideas, and he was quick to pull out of her needy pussy, to leave her whining as he placed his cock into the cleft of her soft pink rear.  
  
"Why did you stop, daddy?" Ves asked, inwardly wincing once more as she realized what she was asking, how far she had gotten accustomed to Bianka and reached such a point. It was hopeless. Ves was given to lusts so deep and powerful that she couldn't even feel bad about it like she should have. Where she logically should have felt guilt and disgust with Fenn was a strange kind of emptiness, and it was that lack of shame, paired with how hard she enjoyed it, that actually made her feel bad, and really horny.  
  
"Because I have something else in mind, cunt," Fenn smirked, pulling his hips back a little and letting his slick, cum covered cock drag between her cheeks. He lined up with her puckered back entrance instead, hand coming down with a hard slap onto her ass as he pushed forward a little, leaving her whining and whimpering in realization, but Ves didn't ever pull away or shake her head. Then, without a warning or a chance to brace herself, Fenn slammed forward into her ass, claiming her asshole with a vicious, powerful shove that left her screaming in raw delight. "Let's see why Henselt has become infatuated by your little asshole."  
  
Hard thrusts began to fuck the blond soldier back door lose, Fenn relishing in the even tighter, warmer hole that his cock was stretching out. The searing sensation Ves was left with was agonizing, but the undercurrent of pleasure beneath quickly brought one of her hands between her legs, face buried into the rotten mattress to muffle her cries as fingers pushed into her needy, dripping hole. Ves fingerfucked herself, rubbing his cum into her inner walls as she rocked back and forth, relishing the sensation upon her.  
  
All at once pain and pleasure mingling in ways she only knew about from her times as Bianka, experiencing once more how sensitive her ass truly was as the formidable cock ravaged her. Ves couldn't believe how amenable her body was to pleasure and how much she wanted more of it, stopping for nothing as she bucked frantically back and forth.  
  
"Harder," Ves panted, eyes shut tightly as she begged for more, as this new ground she was breaking left her not wanting anything more than the utmost of indulgence. She felt incredible, felt like she was flying on the wings of something more unbelievable than she had ever known before, and she was so ready for more, so ready to be taken hard and fast as many times as Fenn, Finch, and whoever else of the company wanted. It was something beyond belief, pleasure in a capacity that left her with insight into those for whom sex wasn't about love but pure, animalistic banging.  
  
This was more than a typical day for Bianka, the reason why Ves hated and loved her so much. In contrast to her true personality of Ves, Bianka always gave a fuck (literally) to social rules commanding how she, as a woman, had to correctly behave herself. Bianka did what she liked to, had sex before marriage, liked to wear skimpy dresses, stockings, and skirts, and preferred kinky daddy/submissive relationships. Bianka was a free spirit, a slut, and whatever else she liked to be. Bianka was the total opposite of what Ves learned to become a soldier and only female member of the Blue Stripes in a male-dominated world.  
  
Because as much as Ves tried to be a part of the elite unit, as much as she laughed about the men's jokes about whores and adultery, and as many fights and battles she won with these men together, she remained a woman. Men could sleep with dozens of hussies and be seen as champions and got applauded for their actions. Men could visit a tavern, get drunk, and puke and piss around, and were still considered as the bests. But as a woman regardless of her profession or military rank, Ves couldn't do anything of that. When she behaved herself even in the slightest way like her male combatants, she would have been considered not only as a bitch without dignity but completely lost authority and credibility. Not that she wanted to but having no choice when she didn't want to destroy her life completely was the problem.  
  
And this is why Ves loved Bianka in some twisted way, and every mission she could be her.  
  
With her together.  
  
And after Bianka's fancy, Ves was anally ravaged on all fours by a man she didn't like at all. She felt like a whore, like one woman without moral principles, and something raw and primal within her adored that thought.  
  
Fingers curled inside of her pussy and focused in on her g-spot as Ves fingerfucked herself madly, moaning and whining in ragged need as Fenn continued to violate her ass. Hard thrusts made her cheeks shake and bounce as his hips came down against them time and again. He didn't slow down for anything, didn't dare stop as he greedily sought the intense satisfaction that came with assfucking the gorgeous blonde veteran, unaware that his merciless approach was completely doing her in and breaking her down in ways he couldn't even fathom. He didn't let up for anything, smacking her ass as he groaned and grunted, enjoying the sensations quite thoroughly.  
  
Fenn came first this time, grunting as he pushed balls deep into her stretched out hole one last time. His cock twitched and jerked against the clenching anal lining he had fucked loose as his balls emptied, pumping cum deep into her bowels that left her with an even starker and twistedly delightful feeling of gooey warmth than before. It was enough to set Fenn off in turn, leaving her biting down on the mattress as she screamed in mind-blowing delight, fingers pushed to the last knuckle inside of her as her climax struck, this one even more violent and intense than the first, owing to the feeling of complete debauchery that came from being fucked in the ass. It was wrong in ways Ves couldn't even begin to describe, but they ensured that the final verdict was that they were oh so very right, thanks to Bianka.  
  
Still erect despite two powerful, voluminous orgasms into the holes of the blonde veteran, Fenn wasn't yet done with her, grabbing the back of her head as she whimpered and gasped for air, pulling her onto her hands and knees in front of him as he presented her with his mighty cock, hand still holding tightly onto her head to make sure she didn't slack off.  
  
"Please, don't stop," Ves panted, staring at the thick, aching cock coated in her twat. It was still rock hard, and she found herself salivating at the sight of the veiny, throbbing member up close. She wanted it in her mouth, as deep as she could get it, even if it would forever serve as another reminder that she loved being Bianka more than ever.  
  
"Don't worry, Bianka. Not until midnight," Fenn grunted dominantly. "Not until you're bred and pregnant with my child. You are mine."

* * *

When Ves and Fenn left the basement, she was sore all over, smelling heavily of sex, several loads pumped into all of her holes and several on her face that she should have washed off before even considering stepping outside once more but Fenn insisted on doing not so. Lucky to have Bianka on her side, Ves had survived the twisted situation unscathed.  
  
When they both reached and entered, Esmeralda saw them and shook her head, snorted. In contrast to the situation in the afternoon, the brothel was even fuller and peoples' mood more hilarious, thanks to alcohol and the prostitutes' affection. The rush hour had officially begun.  
  
"Move faster, Bianka. I'm sure the others are eager to have their way with you too," Fenn said, being already halfway through the brimming room as someone else tossed in with a voice so dark and masculine only one person on the continent was in the possession of and Ves was very familiar with, "Not before I had my way with you, little rat. Say cheese!"  
  
As Ves turned her head in surprise, she was confronted by a massive figure one shoulder broader on each side and an entire head higher than Fenn whose eyes widened in distress and terror at the very second he recognized the voice and its master too. The music of the troubadours stopped immediately. Clients nearby broke off, terrified, and some jumped up from their chairs. Like in a chorus, all prostitutes emitted a piercing cry, including Esmeralda who was caught off guard even though it happened right before her eyes.  
  
Barrett, a man of sturdy build and eyes fully engulfed in bloody red, appeared from nowhere and before Fenn was even capable of reacting and watching back, Barrett's arms clasped his torso and the hands literally dug through his Blue Stripes armor into the middle of his thorax. What happened next was the most disturbing scene Ves and including everyone in the room had ever witnessed.  
  
Feet dangling in the air, Fenn screamed bloody murder and moved his arms up and down to get free again while each bone of his spine clicked and broke. The sound of it echoed through the brothel and made everyone's body twitch in shock. But Barrett didn't stop. It was just the beginning. As Fenn was on the verge to pass out with pain, Barrett proceeded with something people thought it was not possible... in a physical sense.  
  
Wrong.  
  
After pushing his bare hands deeper into Fenn's torso, Barrett slowly but steadily drifted each half of the thorax apart. This caused Fenn to scream bloody murder for a new round. The entire audience and Ves who was thunderstruck watched how the Blue Stripes soldier's skin began to chap like rotten wood and how blood sprayed through the cracks before Barrett finally decided to do the job properly and tore his prey's thorax in half like it was made of paper.  
  
The sound of ripping human flesh was surreal, the view to get mad.  
  
Both aspects pierced marrow and bone, and as Fenn's lungs, beating heart, liver, and guts dashed against the wooden floor and Ves' boots, and his wide-open rips, people couldn't hold themselves back anymore, blacked or ran out to puke. Many prostitutes' eyes remained locked on the gallons of blood running to all sides of the room. Even former soldiers and battle-hardened combatants seemed to have problems with processing what just happened in front of them and lasted maybe two minutes. And when Barrett let go of Fenn's torn body, the noise of its landing sent a chill down every spectator's spine.  
  
Dead silence immediately fell over the place.  
  
"Esmeralda, call the cleaning unit and make sure the dogs have enough food for next days," said Barrett to the Madam whose crossbow was trembling in the hand, eyes locked on the homicide.  
  
"Esmeralda!"  
  
"Yes, yes," the Madam finally found her tongue and looked up to him, scared to death.  
  
"And send me the bill about the accrued damage," Barrett added with a dead serious voice. "And all girls are for free for the next twenty-four hours, the alcohol too. Do you hear me?"  
  
The silence ended instantly, but people avoided eye-contact wherever possible.  
  
"Yes, I get it. Alright. Just give a moment, y-you monster."  
  
Barrett snorted slightly and then finally gave Ves' his full attention, who was still trying to figure out what just happened, what the consequences were going to be not only for her but Roche too, and most importantly what was Barrett's part in all this mess. Just now, Ves found the time to realize that he was wearing simple, black-brown leather armor and being equipped with his famous two knives which were so long that people usually thought they were blades.  
  
"Girl, I told you to not join the Roche's unit, didn't I? But you didn't wanna listen," Barrett stated with a little smile on his serious face and moved toward her. "Sorry that I couldn't come to help you sooner. When Finch's message arrived, it was already very late."  
  
"Finch?" asked Ves, still feeling a little bit paralyzed.  
  
"A long story. Are you hurt? Ves?"  
  
This was the very moment the pressure of the last days and what happened in between overwhelmed Ves completely and she started crying, threw herself into Barrett's strong arms. It didn't matter what people around might think of her. She needed someone to cry her eyes out, someone who would listen to her, protect her. Instinctively, Barrett put his arms around her waist and legs, lift her in the air and carried her away through the brothel's door into the dark night of Velen.  
  
It didn't suppose to be like this.


	3. CP1: Ciri

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ciri is in Novigrad and hiding from Whoreson Junior after the failed heist of Sigi Reuven's treasure. When she hears that Dudu has gotten caught by the crime boss and being tortured, the witcheress drops everything and decided to rescue her friend, to Dandelion's complete refusal. And then, before they know where they are, Ciri and the famous poet get officially married and leave the place in peace. How can all this happen?
> 
> Word count: 7160
> 
> Tags: wedding, fondling, spanking

It was midnight when Ciri and Dandelion were sneaking through the dark back alleys of Novigrad. Although the streets were deserted and silence ruled over the districts, both were even more cautious at every turn before they caught a glimpse around the next corner to proceed.  
  
The reason was simple; Cyprian Wiley, more known as 'Whoreson Junior', was after them and one of the four crime bosses of Novigrad alongside Sigi Reuven, Carlo 'Cleaver' Varese, and Francis Bedlam. And as if this wasn't enough problem, Caleb Menge, the commander of the Temple Guard and leader of the Witch Hunters, was of the party too. Ciri and Dandelion maneuvered themselves into something they had completely lost control of, with the result that their lives including all of those who helped them being in danger as well.  
  
And everything looked so promising at the beginning...  
  
After the events in Velen, Ciri rode off to Novigrad and tracked down Dandelion to enlist his help in repairing a phylactery to lift the curse on Avallac'h without revealing his identity to anyone. As simple as it sounded, the harder the reality stroke back and knocked them down to earth. Before the witch hunts, it would have been very easy to find a mage ready to repair the device. When Ciri arrived though, she could have considered herself lucky to even find one magician alive or not already imprisoned by Menge's cutthroats.  
  
So, Dandelion suggested seeking help from Whoreson Junior who claimed to have mage connections. In return for the phylactery's repair, he insisted on getting Sigi Reuven's fabulous treasure of about one and a half million crowns. Determined to help his best friend's foster-daughter, by all means, Dandelion accepted the deal and prepared with Ciri the heist to steal the gold. The plan was simple; wrangling Dudu (a doppler and Dandelion's friend) in Sigi's bathhouse to flush explosive substance down the pool before Ciri, Dandelion himself, and Bea's brothers and cousins sneaked through the sewer tunnels beneath the bathhouse to ignited the easily flammable stuff to punch a hole in the room where the treasure was.  
  
And as much crazy everything sounded in theory, the more they were surprised when they actually achieved to steal Sigi Reuven's entire money. The plan worked out almost perfectly with two big exceptions. First, one of Bea's cousins died because of poisoning during his way back to the boots. Second, after they found a landing stage to unload the entire cargo, Caleb Menge himself and his temple guards attacked and stole the treasure from them. Fortunately, every one of the group was able to escape but they definitively lost their part of the bargain.  
  
Shortly afterward, Ciri and Dandelion heard that Whoreson Junior would have kidnapped Dudu in order to draw them both out of their hideout in the Golden Sturgeon's basement. And the crime boss was successful because Ciri didn't listen to Dandelion who constantly requested her to leave the city and to bring herself to safety since Cyprian Wiley had no idea about her and her contribution to the deal and the heist. She ignored his words and was determined to rescue Dudu from Whoreson's claws to Dandelion's total discomfort.  
  
"Got a bad feeling about this..."  
  
"Calm down, Dandelion," Ciri said as they stood near the tower in temple isle. "We can't leave Dudu in Whoreson Junior's hands, you know that."  
  
"I know, I know. But my gut can't be reasoned with, and no amount of sympathy I feel can silence it, blot it out."  
  
"Cheer up. We can manage this, I'm certain," Ciri countered and smiled.  
  
"Famous last words, right here." Dandelion sighed and was anything but confident to survive the rescue mission. Even though Whoreson Junior didn't know Ciri at all, the famous bard was aware of what was going to happen when she failed and was taken prisoner by the crime boss, what he usually did to women and prostitutes; raping, hanging, or forcing them into suicide. Being one of Novigrad's most dangerous criminals, Whoreson Junior had inherited his father's casinos, fighting ring and brothels, as well as the old man's sadistic tendencies, ruthlessness and lack of scruples. These traits had made the moniker 'Whoreson' something of a family heirloom for his powerful criminal clan.  
  
Briefly speaking, Cyprian Wiley was not a person to be trifled with.  
  
Dandelion wasn't a coward and Ciri clearly not a damsel in distress, more than capable of protecting herself and fighting entire groups of armed men if necessary. But often her temper was standing in her way to realizing when the right time had come to back off and accept that there was nothing she could do. And if something would happen to her, Geralt would never forgive him that, neither Yennefer nor Dandelion himself. He had to protect her at any cost, whether she liked it or not.  
  
"Have you learned where Whoreson is keeping Dudu?" Ciri asked, her beautiful white hair waving in the wind as she adjusted the sheath of her witcher sword.  
  
"Room on the top floor. One with the balcony."  
  
"I'll need to cross onto the roof. Wait for me in front of Junior's house," Ciri explained and looked to her friend with expectant eyes, "and I know it's difficult, but try to look inconspicuous."  
  
Dandelion frowned. "Still think this is a really bad idea. The entire building will be probably full of Cyprian's men and the upper floors too. And after what happened today at the landing stage and with his treasure, he's sure thinking we have defrauded him of money and been collaborating with the temple guards. Whoreson will expect another attack, Ciri. It is stupid to think you could just sneak inside and leave the place with Dudu again."  
  
"I didn't presume it will happen without bloodshed anyway," Ciri admitted. "I'm more than ready to fight if he forces me to."  
  
"Maybe I should go and talked to him myself, explain to him that we didn't betray him and--"  
  
Ciri stopped listening and headed toward the next ladder, climbing up to the roof of the building next to Whoreson Junior's house. As she stood at the top and enjoyed the fresh air, she caught a rare sight of Novigrad's nightlife and beauty. There wasn't time to look inward, so Ciri trotted and jumped over one roof after another until she reached a house with a balcony and a large glass window which was standing ajar.  
  
Looking through the gap inside, Ciri spotted Dudu tied to a wooden chair and his face full of blood. Behind him, four of Whoreson's stupidly painted and clothed men were standing guard while Cyprian himself was using his fists to give vent to his fury by punching several times his victim's belly.  
  
"And now, my dear Dodo... I believe I'll try a different tool. Afraid I'm bored with this one."  
  
"You're fucking barmy, Junior... Anyone tell you that?" Dudu said and spewed blood.  
  
"No, most say I'm nice... once they get to know me."  
  
As Dudu saw Ciri's emerald-green eyes staring through the gap, his own eyes widened in shock and his head slightly shook to indicate her that it was a bad idea to jump inside and play the heroine. Ciri, of course, interpreted his motions the complete reverse way...  
  
Her hands already clasping the shaft of her deadly sword, the Lion Cub of Cintra pushed the window aside with her elbow and barged into a room where she had thought she had only to deal with a handful of armed men.  
  
Well, Ciri thought wrong.  
  
As her green eyes floated from right to left, she just realized that there were standing eight other armed men of Whoreson Junior's gang at the other side of the wall, looking at her with incredulous expressions while tightened the grip on their other tortured hostages Bea, her father Heinrich, five of her brothers and cousins, and two of Dudu's friends in total.  
  
A shiver ran through Ciri with her lips wide open.  
  
As if the situation didn't get more complicated, more of Whoreson's foot soldiers were sitting and standing on the next side of the room. Some of them were playing Gwent together on a table, others stretching their legs down the crates placed on all sides. If Ciri counted their numbers correctly now, there must have been more than twenty-seven thugs on the same floor eyeing up on her at the same time.  
  
This was the very moment in which Ciri was totally stunned and didn't know what to do.  
  
"Who the fuck are you!?" Whoreson asked angrily after slowly turning around.  
  
Ciri tried to remember what her uncle Vesemir taught her about situations a witcher should better retreat and run instead of letting himself get cornered and forced into actions where there was no possible escape anymore. And this was clearly one of them. Mind running berserk, Ciri recognized four option how to handle this mess without getting killed herself.  
  
First, she could just jump through the open window and flee, or just teleport herself away. Second, Ciri could take Whoreson Junior hostage and try to force him to release her friends and then let her go as well. Third, she could attack everyone and hope to win the entire battle. Fourth, she could try to bargain about a solution that fitt all. None of those options had a realistic outcome that guaranteed success.  
  
For a real fight, there were too many enemies in a too narrow space. Even though Geralt taught her the so-called group style of combat, or how Lambert called it; Viroledan Naev'de Feaine Glaeddyv, Ciri had never reached the physical strength, stamina, and speed of a real witcher who was gone through one of the Trial of the Grasses' four steps, which required the consumption of special alchemical ingredients known as 'the grasses' and affected the physiology of the subject.  
  
Literally translated, the group style was called the Nine Sun Swords. The swordsmen of Viroledo had originally developed it as a method for tackling several opponents through complex slashing techniques. Masters of this style were able to fight nine opponents simultaneously. Even if Ciri used her unique ability called 'blink' to teleport herself through and around their opponents, she was totally aware of the fact that she couldn't be so fast to swing her sword like a true witcher the technique needed to be applied. Defending herself against more than five enemies at the same time was off the cards, a wishful thinking.  
  
And there were twenty-eight in the room...  
  
"Fuckin' cunt, I asked you who you are!" Whoreson barked, drawing his sword and everyone immediately surrounded the young witcheress.  
  
Ciri hadn't still decided yet what do to as she starred around her and into the empty eyes of her friends with each one having a knife on their throat.  
  
"Hey, wait. This is a misunderstanding here. Where is Cyprian, my friend?!" Ciri heard Dandelion's voice and in person rushing upstairs and then elbowing his way through the armed crowd. As the sweaty bard achieved to put his arm around Ciri who looked as perplex as Whoreson and the entire gang, he swiftly disarmed her by pushing her hand down with the witcher sword and sideways to her back.  
  
"Dandelion, what the fuck is all this supposed to mean here? Why is this... girl jumping through my window and wagging her sword?" Whoreson asked, gritting his teeth. "And where is my fuckin' money, man?!?"  
  
Ciri felt how Dandelion's hand dropped to her waist and then pressed her body against his like they were some kind of a couple. Ciri played along by doing the same after quickly sheathing the sword.  
  
"Oh, Cyprian, my friend, these are actually pretty good questions," Dandelion said and tried to act and sound cool as possible. Even if he achieved to look that way, Ciri felt how crazy his heart was throbbing inside his chest and how sweaty his skin began to get. If she didn't know him better, Ciri would have assumed he was on the verge of a panic attack. "How we all put down our weapons first and stop the torturing and speak with each other like civilized people we all have been."  
  
Whoreson Junior frowned. "You have ten seconds to explain yourself... Tick-tock, tick-tock, the clock is running, Dandelion. I'd be quick if I were you. For your own and your friends' sake."  
  
"Alright, alright. This is Ciri," Dandelion revealed and pointed to her. "And she has jumped through your window because... because... she needed to speak with you in person and knew your men would have never allowed it to her, even killed her... you know that, Cyprian."  
  
Ugly eyes moving up and down, Whoreson scrutinized Ciri's sexy, pale body and outfit as if she was some kind of slave he could buy on the black market. Ciri shivered at the crime boss' piercing glimpses which seemed to be able to take off each part of her clothing and see her naked in front of him. The same went for his men, staring at her like she was some sort of fresh meat ready to get eaten alive.  
  
And it wasn't like Ciri was wearing a very special and attractive outfit, anyway; a cotton cream white shirt with shiny silk stripe, a dark brown leather underbust corset, two dark brown suede and leather gloves and pants with studs, and plus light brown leather-heeled boots. As for accessories, Ciri was carrying a witcher sword hanging on a leather belt over her shoulder, of course, including a decorative silver belt with turquoise blue gems around her waist and a snakeskin belt with a golden buckle with two brown leather travel bags and a dagger strapped to it. The entire outfit was made for long and dangerous adventures, not to impress anyone on a boring banquet or to look pretty somehow.  
  
And why should anyone find her attractive anyway? Ciri had ashen blond hair just reaching her shoulders with a loose bun, not to mention of her the big scar on her left cheek under the eye she had been always trying to cover it under a strand of hair. And by the gods, Ciri considered herself so clumsy when it came to her own makeup. Yes, she was using black eyeliner and eye-makeup in specific, but this always resulted in dark-smudged smokey eyes. Yennefer supposed to be much more talented in such thinks and Ciri wished nothing more than to lock herself in her mother's arms.  
  
After a short awkward silence, Whoreson Junior grabbed Ciri's hand to kiss backside with a slimy smirk. "Pleasure to meet you, Ciri. Dandelion is a dumb-ass but he has a good taste when it comes to chicks... and women."  
  
"Thanks," Ciri replied and was happy when he let go of her again. His hunched nose and angular shaped face grossed Ciri out.  
  
"Dandelion, as much as I respect your coward decision to send a sexy girl ahead before you appear yourself... my question still remains the same: WHERE THE FUCK IS MY MONEY!?!"  
  
Wincing, the eloquent bard and singer took quickly a deep breath and countered, "We didn't have it, Cyprian." As Whoreson beckoned to his men to kill him, Dandelion shouted, "Wait! I can explain it! Cyprian, my friend, we got robbed by Caleb Menge. It was a trap, I swear by my excellent reputation and honor. We don't try to cheat you, please you have to believe me! This is a huge misunderstanding."  
  
Seven heavily armed men stepped forward and cast a long shadow on Dandelion and Ciri alike.  
  
"Alright, you can have the Rosemary and Thyme your father gave me."  
  
"Nice try, Dandelion. What I need is more cash and not immobile possessions."  
  
Ciri was ready to draw her sword as Dandelion did what he could best: Talking without ceasing.  
  
"Fair point, Cyprian. Then use the tavern as a safe place for your business in the south... Like some sort of reloading place for fisstech and whatever... the Rosemary and Thyme has the perfect location to consolidate your power over the entire city... And today we both know that the biggest problem for every legitimate crime boss is to find places and legal businesses to launder money... And, and the tavern has already a license and... You can start right off with your business and disguise your activities... And--"  
  
Whoreson Junior's hand flipped in the air and his thugs stopped walking.  
  
"You have temptin' ideas, Dandelion. And a fuckin' mouth that seems never to shut once."  
  
"Thank you..."  
  
"That wasn't a compliment..." Whoreson hissed and eyed Ciri up, being clearly up to something. "And I'd really consider the idea and accept your offer IF my stupid father himself hasn't taught me once a very important lesson. You know which?"  
  
Dandelion swallowed and shook his head.  
  
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!"  
  
"I swear to the Gods we didn't betray you, Cyprian!" the bard tossed in. "We still need you to repair the phylactery. How should we suppose to do this without your help?"  
  
"What is this phylactery good for anyway? Never told me the reason why you accepted to take such risks for its repair. Spit it out!"  
  
Dandelion looked at Ciri as if he had finally found a way out of this situation but she wasn't going to like it, not at all.  
  
"Ehm, this is pretty simple... because of... ehm--"  
  
"Nice try, Dandelion. Kill everyone, guys! I'm sick of all this here."  
  
"Nooo!!! Wait, wait, Cyprian. Didn't you know? The phylactery is supposed to be a wedding gift... ehm... for..." Dandelion's eyes darted around in despair, first stopping at Bea and then jumping over to Ciri who gazed back at him with a blank expression. There wasn't much of a choice. So, he told what he had to save everyone's neck. "Ciri... it's for Ciri here, Cyprian... Ciri and I getting married."  
  
Dandelion's entire body was twitching after his last sentence as if he had just signed his own death sentence. On the other side, Dudu and all the other hostages' jaws almost dropped to the floor. They were clearly trying to figure out whether what they had just heard really came out of the bard's lips. Bea stared at her father, and he looked at Dudu who, in return, gazed at Ciri whose eyebrows arched in amazement and disbelief, never expected such outcome. Even Dudu's friends and Bea's cousins and brothers appeared to be smitten with surprise.  
  
The only question was whether Whoreson Junior was going to believe them and see it as a sign to show mercy to accept Dandelion's counteroffer with the Rosemary and Thyme.  
  
"All this for LOVE and this beauty here?" asked Whoreson, as the bard nodded in approval, not being able to look into his should-be fiance's emerald eyes. His own words caught himself off-guard. Ciri wished someone would poke and tell her that all this was just a bad, kinky dream. Not that she didn't like to see how Dandelion tried to talk himself into trouble and save them from certain death, but pushing them both into a marriage felt a little bit hasty and wrong.  
  
"Dandelion, Dandelion. It seems I really misjudged you, man. Why didn't you tell me somethin' earlier?" Whoreson suddenly glomped the pale pet brotherly, making him cringe. "You know how much I like love stories and especially weddings. Apropos wedding, when did you plan to have yours again?"  
  
"In two weeks," replied Ciri this time to give Dandelion time to recover a bit before he came up with more stupid things they couldn't undo. They were in the shit enough.  
  
"Fiddlesticks! I suggest you have your weddin' party here and now in my house with all these lovely friends of yours as your witnesses. What do you think about that, huh?"  
  
Dudu and the others couldn't believe what was going on right now.  
  
According to Whoreson's undertone, his question wasn't an offer but a prerequisite if they wanted to keep their lives. Ciri, however, was determined to drive up the price as much as possible in case she really had to marry Dandelion to save not only her own life and his but her friends too.  
  
"Alright," Ciri agreed with a smile, "but under one condition."  
  
Whoreson crossed his arms and smirked.  
  
"A girl who knows what she wants. Good. I'm listenin'."  
  
"I will only give up my greatest dream of marrying my precious Dandelion here in a massive ceremony if you release all my friends and promise me to never bother them again," insisted Ciri while looking straight into her enemy's eyes.  
  
"Okay. And I will forget about Sigi Reuven's treasure as long as you and Dandelion here keep your side of the bargain and run the tavern for my business, none of you should get punished or killed in any way. Deal?"  
  
Dandelion's breathing became more and more unsteady and deep, and Ciri was afraid he could be seized with panic and run for his life. Realizing the problem, ashen-haired witcheress saw no other way than to agree.  
  
"Deal."  
  
"Perfect. And you, Dandelion?"  
  
The usually eloquent poet just nodded and wiped off the sweat from her forehead.  
  
"Beautiful," Whoreson said. "Let me get a novigradian registrar and a priest of the Church to make this entire event official. Damn, I love weddings. It's like a man is gonna get castrated and trapped in slavery for the rest of his life..." With quick motions of his fingers, he ordered his men to release everyone.  
  
"This is freaking nightmare, please God help me," Dandelion muttered as Ciri nudged him to keep him from jeopardizing the entire situation. Quickly and without much fuss, Dudu and the others were set free and coming together, looking at each other with wide, unbelieving eyes. The whole wedding thing was absolutely absurd. Ciri could read it out her faces. Before they were able to exchange a word, they were accompanied downstairs to the second floor to wait until both needed officials arrived to officiate the wedding.  
  
As much as Ciri was ready to draw her sword and fight her way through Whoreson's men, the truth was that Dandelion was right in the first place. The entire house was crawling with armed foot soldiers. Cyprian Wiley recalled almost all his men after the events with the temple guards and surrounded himself with an entire army. A rescue mission would have been futile.  
  
And as much as Ciri found funny the idea of being married to Geralt's best friend, it really came out as the only solution in which the number of casualties remained zero. Dandelion achieved this without having the slightest idea what the price for it was going to be. Well, he knew now, and he obviously couldn't handle it as much as she did. For now, both could be considered themselves happy when they got home unharmed and in one piece.  
  
"Is this really for real, Ciri?" whispered Dudu after washing off his face and hands, one of his eyes not in its place anymore where it should have been. "You gonna marry to save us?"  
  
"I'm afraid yes, Dudu. Ten lives in return for a non-meaningful contract. Do not go to lose any sleep over it. With will deal with the consequences later... I'm just so sorry we didn't come to help you sooner.... your right eye..."  
  
The lines in the doppler's face contorted to a friendly smirk. "An eye for a life. A good deal if you ask me. Don't think about it, Ciri."  
  
"To be honest, all credit belongs to Dandelion. If it was up to me, I guess we wouldn't have made it out here at all."  
  
Bea approached and hugged Ciri, then Dandelion. Tears ran down her freckled cheeks.  
  
"In the name of my entire family, thank you. Both of you. You didn't need to come back but you did. We will never forget that." Bea's father Heinrich nodded in approval.  
  
Everyone was very happy, except for Dandelion who appeared like he was going to commit suicide very soon, and Ciri knew why; the meaning of marriage as a socially and ritually recognized union. Dandelion was forty-three years old. Men in his age usually had settled down to a family life and had several kids (and wives). Dandelion was one of the big exceptions on the continent because he loved to be a womanizer and to woo pretty much every young girl he encountered.  
  
Since he was considered by women as being very handsome and eloquent, Dandelion also tended to be overconfident, assuming he could woo everyone (even shady criminals) and considering himself much more worldly wise than he actually was. Dandelion was a dreamer and savorer, loved his independence and profession of a bard and poet more than anything.  
  
And a marriage represented the exact opposite of what made Dandelion out as the promiscuous and frivolous person he used to be. A marriage would force him to take responsibility not only for himself but also for other people for the rest of his life. A marriage would demand from him to actually open his heart and admit feelings to another woman and make himself vulnerable in a way he couldn't just abandon her after the first fight and sings of problems.  
  
Briefly speaking, a marriage meant to Dandelion to become someone he wasn't. And even though the entire marriage thing they both ran into now was totally fake, the bard couldn't ignore his greatest fear in his life was somehow getting real. And to be clear, Ciri was totally aware of the fact what kind of personal sacrifice her friend had just made to rescue her and all the others. I didn't look that way but Dandelion was a real hero at the moment.  
  
"Are you okay?" asked Ciri her friend who was near vomiting the panic out of his stomach.  
  
"No... If Geralt and Yennefer ever find out about this, our friendship will be over. Or worse."  
  
"I think they will rather thank you for saving my life and those of my friends and calling me a moron instead. Without you Dandelion, no one would be here now. You are a damn brave."  
  
Ciri smiled and hugged Dandelion, kissed him on his cheek, causing him to twitch with reluctance.  
  
"I shouldn't have told him your real name..." blamed Dandelion.  
  
"I will sign and take my marriage vow by using my nickname, Ciri of Vengerberg, anyway."  
  
Dandelion snorted and finally seemed to relax a bit, smiling at her nickname.  
  
"Yennefer would be proud... But if you do that, Ciri, you know we have only three days before they realize that this isn't your real identity, right? The novigradian register office will cancel the status immediately. And by doing so, Whoreson Junior will know it too."  
  
As Ciri wanted to say something, an old priest of the Church and a marriage registrar walked up the stairs in their official clothing. Unlike the marriage registrar, the priest didn't look like it was just rudely awakened minutes ago, emitting a strong aura of trustworthiness and confident  Ciri couldn't explain. As the old, white-haired man stood before them, his friendly expression and innocent smile surprised them all. Unlike the higher priest Ciri usually saw in Novigrad, he was wearing a very simple, modest black frock.  
  
"Father Kusak..." Dandelion muttered, bowed respectfully. Everyone in the room joined him, except for Ciri who made a confused expression.  
  
"Julian, my son, this is not a joke to mock an old man in the middle of the night, right?" Father Kusak kept smiling. His authoritarian presence was remarkable.  
  
"I am afraid not, Father." Dandelion's disdainful glimpse went short to Whoreson Junior.  
  
"What a historic day it is then to see how the most eligible bachelor of the continent has finally found a woman who achieved to touch his true, secret heart."  
  
Dandelion couldn't much do than to smirk awkwardly.  
  
"So, my child," Father Kusak said and turn his attention to Ciri, "you are the impressive woman who achieved the impossible. Literally. I think I'm not exaggerating if I assume that everyone would like to know how you did this but I'd be content for now if I just know your name."  
  
"Ciri, Father, my name is Ciri," the ashen-haired witcheress repeated and bowed shortly.  
  
"Ah, Ciri for Cirilla in short. A beautiful name. Worthy of an empress..."  
  
A painful jolt rushed through their bodies as Ciri and Dandelion exchanged glances, and he began to twitch and sweat again like before. The plan of Ciri using a fake identity didn't seem an option anymore...  
  
"Shall we get over with the ceremony now, Thomas?" asked the novigradian registrar, yawning.  
  
Father Kusak's smile got wider and wider, his ice-blue eyes locked on Ciri's.  
  
"Sure. Cyprian, you have the rings as you mentioned?"  
  
"Yes, Sir."  
  
"Then let us start with the ceremony. I suggest Mister..."  
  
"Dudu..."  
  
"Mister Dudu and his male companions act as Julian's groomsmen. And Miss..."  
  
"Bea..."  
  
"Miss Bea as Ciri's only bridesmaid-- What, son?" Father Kusak asked calmly after Whoreson was constantly stretching his arm in the air.  
  
"I like to be a groomsman too, Father. It's so seldom that I can attend such beautiful ceremonies. Please, let me be Dandelion's first groomsman. Please...."  
  
"Julian?"  
  
"If it's really necessary..." Dandelion stated after a deep sigh.  
  
"Then I'd like to ask the audience to rally around our plighted lovers now, so we can start."  
  
Without making a fuss, Whoreson's armed men circled and positioned themselves around Ciri and Dandelion. Dudu, Bean, and the others including Cyprian moved behind their appropriate counterpart and acted as calm and happy as possible, even though everyone knew it was just show and necessity to not getting killed.  
  
As much as Ciri would have liked to kill Whoreson and end this charade of a marriage ceremony, she swallowed her anger and looked forward. They only needed to get out of this place. Later, they could ponder over the consequences. And there were many because it looked the way that Whoreson was up to use her and Dandelion for his own criminal purposes with the phylactery being more out of their reach.  
  
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of family and friends to celebrate the joining of these two in the unity of marriage," Father Kusak started with the official ceremony and smiled at Ciri and her future husband who was drowning panic and sweat. "There are no commitments on earth sweeter or more tender than those you are about to make to one another. There are no vows more solemn than those you about to state. There is no human institution more sacred than that of the home you have formed. True marriage is the holiest of all earthly relationships. The state of matrimony is based in this deep union of two people who seek to find completion in one another."  
  
Ciri and Dandelion bandied strange looks as they reached out their hands.  
  
"Julian Alfred Pankratz, Viscount de Lettenhove, will you take Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, whose hands you hold, choosing her alone to be your wedded wife. Will you live with her in the state of true matrimony, meaning will you love and comfort her, through good times and bad, in sickness and in health, honor her at all times, and be faithful to her?"  
  
Eyes widening total shock at the mentioning of Ciri's full name, the ashen-haired witcheress and the cornflower-blue-eyed poet asked themselves whether they both got busted. Dandelion almost fell backward at the thought the situation could get out of control again. But nothing happened. It appeared that they both were the only ones on the entire room who knew who Ciri really was, apart from Father Kusak, of course.  
  
Ciri nudged Dandelion to say his little sentence but he hesitated as expected. As Whoreson Junior cleared his throat and Dudu coughed slightly, he finally got himself to say, "I-I will."  
  
His face resembled a deathly ill animal who begged to get shot and put out of its misery...  
  
"Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon will you take Julian Alfred Pankratz, whose hands you hold, choosing him alone to be your wedded husband. Will you live with him in the state of true matrimony, meaning will you love and comfort him,  through good times and bad, in sickness and in health, honor him at all times, and be faithful to him?"  
  
"I will," Ciri said without wasting more time.  
  
"To love is to come together from the pathways of our past and then move forward... hand in hand... along the uncharted roads of our future, ready to risk, to dream, and to dare... And always believe that all things are possible with faith and love in the Holy Fire, and in each other," Father Kusak said. "You have brought rings as a token of your sincerity, may I have them please?"  
  
Whoreson Junior stepped forward and handed over the rings. Ciri couldn't believe he was really having tears running down his face.  
  
"So, let us pray together. Bless O Holy Fire these rings that each gives and receives and wears as a token of the covenant between them and the Gods, and may they ever abide in your peace, living together in unity, in love, and in happiness, and with good purpose, doing your will. Holy Fire, enlighten us, protect us!"  
  
"Holy Fire, enlighten us, protect us!" Everyone else shouted in unison.  
  
Father Kusak took out one ring and give it to Dandelion.  
  
"Julian, please repeat after me as place this ring on Cirilla's finger: With this ring, I thee wed."  
  
Ciri feared her normally eloquent friend was gonna pass out any second and was all the happier when he repeated with a broken voice, "W-with this ring, I thee wed," and pushed through her finger. It was a little wonder it worked because of his very moist palms.  
  
"Cirilla, please repeat after me as place this ring on Julian's finger: With this ring, I thee wed."  
  
Looking up, Ciri stated amusingly, "With this ring, I thee wed", and let the ring disappear on Dandelion's finger. It just slipped through.  
  
Bea seemed to be crying, and Whoreson Junior too, of course...  
  
"In as much as you Julian and you Cirilla have consented together in the union of matrimony and you have pledged your faith each to the other in the presence of these witnesses.  Now, by the authority vested in me by the Church of the Holy Fire, I now pronounce you as husband and wife! You may kiss."  
  
An awkward silence fell over the place with everyone waiting the happily married couple to kiss each other but Dandelion just looked stonily and didn't surge forward like the male partner used to do. His face was pale, lips quivering, and eyes empty and round. Dandelion treated her as if she was infected by the Catriona plague and even the slightest touch was able to cost him his life (or an imaginary Yennefer punching him in the face).  
  
People were still waiting.  
  
So, Ciri took the initiative, and to make sure Dandelion wasn't going to throw himself sideways or just upon her, she tilted her head forward and immediately pressed her lips on his and then let go of him as fast as possible. It was just a kiss. Nothing special and meaningful at this very moment. This didn't hinder Dandelion's eyes from gaping in disgust and make the entire 'we-are-married-now' situation pretty unbelievable.  
  
Nonetheless, Whoreson himself and his entire stupid army clapped their hands in joy. They seemed to have bought it...  
  
Next, the novigradian marriage registrar stepped forward and handed a quill to sign off several roles of papers. Quick-wittedly and to Ciri's gladness, Dandelion took the quill and just affixed his signature on every page necessary, his hand shivering. When he was done, the bard almost let the pen fall but achieved to catch in the air again. If Ciri would have really felt that Dandelion was now her husband, she would be embarrassed by him.  
  
But she was not, thanks to the entire circumstance.  
  
After Ciri had done the same, Dudu and the others were curious about what was going to happen next and whether Whoreson Junior was going to keep his word.  
  
"That was incredible. Just perfect. Whatcha think guys?" Cyprian asked with a stupid smirk, putting his arms around Dandelion and Ciri, both shaking at the same time.  
  
"Yeah, the best moment in my life," Ciri countered cynically. "Can we go now?"  
  
"Sure, sweetheart. I will come tomorrow morning and personally make sure that the Rosemary and Thyme is running and efficient as promised. Can't wait to make so money with you... especially with the female ones." Whoreson gave Bea and then Ciri a wink, and then took two handfuls of both girl's tasty butt by digging his bold fingers deep into them and fondling their quality. And what kind of tasty asses the girls had...  
  
Ciri and Bea got jumped, and before the witcheress could respond and break the crime boss' nose, he already ceased but then lunged out and gave their luscious ass cheeks a firm spank that made their flesh wiggle in delight. Whoreson Junior was marking his future intentions beforehand, and Dandelion and Bea's father just scowled and acted like they didn't know what was really going around. Ciri had to make a serious conversation with Dandelion once they were back home.  
  
"But let my men escort you first to make sure that you reach your desired destination. Not that fuckin' Caleb Menge finishes you all off before we had the real fun together, right?"  
  
"That's not necessary. We know our way home," Ciri tossed in.  
  
"I must insist on that, sweetheart. Dandelion and his wife's good health are my first and foremost responsibility from now on. Don't make me beg here, please."  
  
"Fine..." Ciri agreed, just wanted to leave the place as fast as possible, as she headed on and pushed her way out through Whoreson's army with Bea and Dandelion right behind her. Outside, the moonlit night became apparent of the most alluring side. Birds were flying in the air and smoke was emerging of every chimney. Each aspect of scenery was emitting a peaceful and romantic energy that emotionally affected men and women alike.  
  
However, this was true for everyone except for Dandelion. The very moment the bard stepped outside, he bent forward and opened his lips, body spasming and trembling, as a thick stream of vomit abandoned his stomach through the gullet and splashed on Whoreson's house while Dandelion kept coughing and suffering. The whole my-best-friends-life-is-in-danger and marriage thing was clearly too much for him.  
  
"Oh, man..." Dudu muttered and clapped the poet on the shoulder. The escort party of Whoreson was impatiently hopping from one foot to the other. They had to move on.  
  
"I suggest we can't go back to our own home tonight?" Bea asked Ciri.  
  
"I don't think so, too. Never mind, you and your family can take the rooms upstairs. There is enough space for all of us. And tomorrow morning, you can leave the Rosemary and Thyme without a problem, believe me... The same goes for you too, Dudu, and your friends."  
  
The doppler gave a wink in approval by the only working eye before he came closer and whispered to Ciri, "The phylactery. Whoreson still has it. What's going to happen to it?"  
  
"I know. Will talk about it tomorrow when he comes to see the tavern in person. For now, I'm just happy that no one had to die because of all the mess I brought you all into. Let's go!"  
  
During their way back, no one spoke a word until they finally arrived. Many were just too shocked to say something. Others needed time and space to reflect. Dandelion was dealing with something in between and constantly looking at the ring on his finger, causing Ciri to stop that. Once inside the building, Whoreson's men stayed and stood guard at all exits and entries. The question was for their safety or because of them?  
  
Ciri gave a damn about the answer, just aiming to get some rest and time to think. Not being out of the woods yet, they needed to open a tavern that was in shabby condition and hadn't seen customers for months. Barrels and crates were spread all over the main hall, the bedrooms upstairs covered in dust. The Rosemary and Thyme resembled a hovel.  
  
While everyone was sitting around and mulling over in the main floor, Ciri bandaged Dudu up and apologized for everything that happened to him. Dandelion handed out the remaining reserves of beer and wine.  
  
"Oh, forget about it, Ciri," the doppler said and smiled as much as he could. "We should better think how we get out of this whole mess again. When Whoreson appears tomorrow, this place must look like it is running and making some cash. Otherwise, we won't make it much longer than today. Especially the kitchen and the counter here needs to get spruced very quickly. And we need to order alcohol and food as well."  
  
"Where the hell is Zoltan when we need him!" butted Dandelion in.  
  
"Dudu, I heard you are a really good cook. I suggest you are responsible for the kitchen from now on, okay? And Dandelion, you will organize some performers and musicians, be responsible for every room upstairs. I will stand behind the counter and serve drinks and food," Ciri suggested and received everyone's approval.  
  
"Don't forget about us, child. We will help you too," Bea's father confirmed. "Tomorrow, I will immediately go back to the Golden Sturgeon and send you some barrels alcohol and boxes with food. My sons here will make sure it happens quickly and also help you to knock the entire place into shape. If that Whoreson wants a tavern, he shall get one."  
  
Ciri nodded thankfully and took a sip of her beer. While everyone was thinking about the whole situation, silence overlapped the place, and a smirk crossed the ashen-haired witcheress' face and she looked over to Dandelion with the earnest way possible to say," Hey, Dandelion. I thought since we are an officially married now, you know, shouldn't we go upstairs and enjoy our first wedding night as a wife and husband?"  
  
Dudu and the others couldn't stop laughing together when Dandelion almost spilled the entire beer mug over his chest and spewed out, looked at Ciri with piercing eyes whether she was really serious about her unfunny proposal.  
  
The atmosphere finally relaxed and brightened immediately.


	4. CP1: Shani

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the brutal events in Oxenfurt, Shani gets new orders to move to the eastern frontline, and therefore to close her clinic. On the way, the convoy gets attacked and red-haired medic is forced to flee with unforeseen consequences.
> 
> Word count: 8237
> 
> Tags: F/werewolves, non-consensual, breeding
> 
> Author's comment: Until I began writing this scene, I always thought that Shani would be an elf. I was wrong and corrected this mistake in the last story. My apologies.

When Shani's green eyes floated over the hundreds of dead bodies swathed in pitch-black cloth, the dismay was readable off her face. One pile after another was lying side by side and turning the famous marketplace of Oxenfurt into a graveyard with each body awaiting its turn of getting the last rites before the cremation by a priest of the Holy Fire occurred. Friends and relatives of the victims were in deep mourning and desperate need of explanations.  
  
How could all this happen? How could a single thing, a monster kill five hundred twenty-four armed men and women and simply disappear without a trace?  
  
Shani would have liked to know the answer to these questions as well. There were different rumors flying around, each one of them darker and more imaginative than the other. The official statement was that it would have been a terror attack executed by the Nilfgaardian Intelligence. The devious enemy would have deployed mages and sorceresses to summon a devilish demon to the middle of Oxenfurt to kill Redania's most loyal and powerful proponents and King Radovid's wife Adda and his valued peers from the North.  
  
However, the reality was way more shadowy to believe this assertion, or better say propaganda. There were obvious discrepancies the officials tried to make palatable neither Shani nor the common folk could accept without questioning and the reason why the spiral of rumors had been running heated since then.  
  
On the one hand, there were believable voices stating that the 'Demon' had very specifically attacked only witch hunter members and let other people such as redanian soldiers, peers, common folk, leave. If the demon was really meant to weaken and destroy Redania's most loyal and powerful combatants, then why should it have annihilated the understaffed and untrained hunters of all people instead of the five times more redanian soldiers in the same spot?  
  
It didn't make sense. The Witch Hunters were no threat to Nilfgaard compared to the Redanian Forces inside the city walls and its vicinity. This was a fact no one could deny.  
  
And on the other side, royal guards revealed on the quiet that the Demon would have passed them while they were evacuating Queen Adda to her royal carriage ship, and not constituted a threat in any way, including to the Hierarch Cyrus Engelkind Hemmelfart, the entire peerage of Redania, Kaedwen, and Temeria. If Shani had to make a guess, she would have said that the entire attack was directed at Caleb Menge and his organization. Some sort of vengeance Shani was sure. And again, killing all peers and even Queen Adda herself would have done much more damage on King Radovid's power and position within the society.  
  
And the really interesting part pertained to the Demon's appearance and its art of killing. Everyone agreed that it was wearing a long, black coat with a hood, and using two one-handed scythes to maul and cut in two pieces. The eight feet tall beast's face was hidden behind an impenetrable shadow with its bloody-red eyes gazing through. Unlike other known creatures and demons, this one didn't use his legs to move but just skimmed over the ground, fast as a crossbow bold and fierce as a golden eagle of the Kestrel Mountains, with its hands and feet consisting of only stripped bones.  
  
Briefly speaking, the Demon resembled more the mythical incarnation of the Grim Reaper himself. He came, took the lives he meant to and left again. Shani frowned at the thought the Grim Reaper could really exist and sought for more rational explanations, but didn't find any. She saw him from the window of her own clinic. People's fear and panic was understandable such as hers.  
  
When the attack was over and Oxenfurt ablaze at dawn, Shani rushed to the streets to treat the wounded but quickly had to realize that there wasn't much left she could do despite helping fire victims, demoralized soldiers, and soaked citizens. The attack was so violent that some of the warehouses exploded and the fire skipped to the surrounding buildings. Very quickly, half of the city was in flames and people jumping into the cold water to rescue their skins.  
  
Shani's own clinic was spared by fire... as by a miracle, and since then being used it as a hotspot for incoming medical reports and patients. She was confident to save everyone because every life was worth fighting for. Struggling through three days in a row, the strong medic finally reached a point where she needed some time to rest, decided to move back to her clinic and take a break, eat a sandwich.  
  
On her way back, a redanian soldier came up to the redhead and asked her to wait.  
  
"Ma'am, the high command herby sends you new orders," he saluted, handed over a scroll and moved on without waiting for Shani to break its sigil. Surprised, the medic opened out the paper and read the lines on it.  
  
"They are closing my clinic and sending me to the eastern front line!?" Shani spoke out in annoyance. "They can't be serious!"  
  
Wasting no time, Shani spurted to the headquarters near King Radovid's personal ship, the HMS Oxenfurt-Tretogor, which had just arrived yesterday. After walking upstairs and passing by heavily armed guards, Shani saluted before the Commander and waited for allowance to speak. The room itself was full of maps and a big desk where the officer was sitting at and planning strategies and tactics for the war.  
  
Few silent moments later, the Commander looked up and straight into Shani's green eyes.  
  
"You are not pleased by your new orders, I guess?"  
  
"No, Sir, I mean yes, Sir, I mean..." Shani mumbled. "I just think it is the bad time to send me somewhere else. At the moment, people of Oxenfurt and the soldiers need my help and my clinic more than ever. That's all. And there is still this monster poisoning the citizens. An antidote remains essential. I really should not leave Oxenfurt before this problems haven't been fixed."  
  
The Commander smiled friendly and braced his back against the chair.  
  
"Even if this is correct what you say, Shani, all soldiers who should protect and accompany you into sewer system have been positioned elsewhere. Plans have changed over the last days as you can imagine. Our priorities have changed and with them your orders. Questions?"  
  
Shani couldn't hide her disappointment. The clinic belonged to the Redanian Forces. A dispute was futile. She had to respect and follow the new orders.  
  
"A request, if I may, Sir."  
  
Shani took out a paper with names on it and handed it over.  
  
"What's this suppose to mean?" asked the Commander, going through the twelve names, each one of them belonging to females not being part of the official forces.  
  
"These are the names of all women who are continuing their medical study at my clinic since the closing of the University of Oxenfurt," explained Shani proudly. "I am asking your permission to allow them to accompany me to the eastern front so they can finish their degree. They are all highly motivated and eager to learn under realistic circumstances."  
  
The Commander kept quite and studied the names more thoroughly, then looked up at Shani again and nodded in approval. "Alright. They will be your personal responsibility. With not being members of the army, they have to be still instructed about the hierarchical structure and mechanisms, and what it means to be doctors on the front line."  
  
"They will. You have my word on that."  
  
"Good. Permission granted, then. The departure is tomorrow morning, zero-seven-hundred. The gathering point, at the northern bridge. Dismissed."  
  
"Thanks, Sir," Shani stated friendly and saluted before doing an about-face. The creaking of the wooden floor abated as the red-haired medic left the headquarters with mixed feelings. Frankly, it was good to find a solution to keep her postgraduate students, but the closing of her clinic sat heavily on her stomach.

* * *

After a night of explaining to her students what was going to happen and be her next plans in the upcoming months, maybe years, Shani and her twelve students closed the clinic as ordered and found themselves at the gathering point near the Novigrad Gate. The place was crawling with redanian soldiers and intelligence agents, mothers and fathers who bidding farewell to their sons and giving them a hug with tears in their eyes.  
  
According to what Shani had heard later from her comrades, the redeployment of troops from Oxenfurt to the eastern front near Ban Glean in Kaedwen was going to take place by a heavy convoy, affecting thousands of soldiers. Shani and her girls (how other soldiers usually called them in a lovely way) were going to accompany the first of many carts.  
  
"Has everyone everything she needs?" asked Shani to everybody around.  
  
"Only the bare necessities. As you said," Miri replied and received nodding heads, her beautiful, black shoulder-length hair blowing gently. Miri was an elven girl of twenty-two years and one of Shani's most talented postgraduates.  
  
"Good. Now, this is the plan, guys. We can't all sit in one of the carts. Need to branch out to four groups of let's say, three people. I will speak with the convoy commander to make sure everyone has its space."  
  
"How long will the journey to the eastern front last exactly?" asked Nadine, being around the same age of Miri and same race but having short blond hair.  
  
"Around two weeks. It depends how many times we're gonna stop on the route and the weather is gonna be. The way through the Kestrel Mountains and Woodlands can be really tricky I heard," Shani explained as she saw how the royal carriage and the royal guards getting in line with the convoy as well.   
  
"Hey, Shani!" the medic suddenly heard someone calling for her. Looking left and right, Shani quickly discovers Queen Adda the White waving for her and coming closer. Miri, Nadine, and the other girls' eyes widened in amazement as the Queen of Redania approached their group and then even gave Shani have friendly, warm hug. Immediately, everyone bowed deeply and respectfully at the royal presence and remained silent.   
  
"Your Grace," Shani stated and bowed too after Adda let go of her. "You'll be coming with us?"  
  
"Unfortunately yes, my dear. I will try to boost the troops' morale in Ban Glean before they get to the eastern front in the south and to you... But at least you'll be on these boring and cold trip too, and you have brought such cute friends with you..."  
  
Shani smiled and introduces each girl of her own troop to Adda, explained her situation of their studies and possibility to learn more in the frontline. To the girls' utmost surprise, the red-haired Queen seemed to be genuinely interested in their lives and asked them about their personal goals and dreams. The girls' mood was excellent, their sweet, girlish chuckle resounding through the city streets.  
  
"Alright, girls. I see we are talking the same language," Adda said after some moment. "But I think I have to go back to my carriage now. The watchdogs already gazing at me with pleading eyes. Shani, wanna come with me?"  
  
"Oh, no, Your Grace... I don't think this is such a good idea..."  
  
"Come on, don't let a Queen beg you here, dear. The whole trip will be so boring otherwise."  
  
After some looks over to her girls, Shani accepted Adda's offer and told her she was going to follow her after speaking to her little sheep. Smiling from one ear to the other, Adda made her fare-wells and disappeared in the distance.  
  
"How do you get to know the Queen herself, Shani?" Miri asked with a whisper.  
  
"Ah, that's a long story. Let's just say she needed a female doctor for female problems, alright?"  
  
The girls moaned with comprehension.  
  
The truth was that Stanicek asked her for a personal favor to meet a special patient who would seek for a trustworthy doctor in Oxenfurt. As Shani accepted the job and went off to meet her on her ship, she had never thought it was going to be the Queen of Redania herself. And how she didn't meet her expectations.  
  
Adda was warmhearted, interested, and amenable, quickly let go of the protocol. Shani had a chance to learn a personal Queen who seemed to deal with the same problems in her life like many women in the continent. In her case, it was concerning her fertility and the question of whether she could get pregnant or not.  
  
During her over five visits, Shani found out a lot about Adda's difficult life. For instance that she was born a striga as a result of a curse. Her nickname 'the White', which came from the color of her hair after the curse was removed by Geralt, served to distinguish her from her mother, Adda of Temeria, and Adda of Cidaris, the wife of king Goidemar.  
  
Even after the lifting of the curse, Adda still remained intellectually impaired until she would have met a guy and long-term crush called Barrett who not only achieved to magically fix her retardation but also to give her lost years back by rejuvenating her body and drastically slowing down her aging. As her father Foltest had heard about Barrett's accomplishment, he would have rewarded him by the military title of a Captain and hired him as his daughter's personal guard and his personal, royal boogeyman.  
  
Unfortunately, the magic procedure seemed to have a negative impact on her ovaries. Shani found out that she was capable of getting pregnant but only by the semen of extraordinary quality. Although King Radovid was much young than her (Adda thirty-three, Radovid eighteen!) and Adda still in the age of easily bringing a child into the world, it hadn't been working. They would have tried everything. But in the end, all their efforts were futile.  
  
The entire topic would have slowly ruined their relationship and marriage, and Adda was sure that Radovid would have dropped her if her status of Foltest's daughter and her importance to the temerian peerage in exile hadn't become so important since the war. What was going to happen after the war? Adda didn't even want to imagine...  
  
So, Shani couldn't do much for her than to advise her to increase the number of her sex partners in order to fasten her existing fertility and increase her chance to find the right guy to get pregnant. The idea wasn't morally justifiable but Shani was first and foremost responsible for her patient. Since Adda's last visit was months ago, the medic had no idea what the current situation looked like.

* * *

The journey during the first week had been running calm so far. The convoy reached the Kestrel Mountains and sky was orange near dusk. After a short break an hour ago, the five hundred soldiers and the girls were gazing at the incredible nature towering in the horizon. The endless mountains surrounded by an impenetrable forest seemed to never end.  
  
"Beautiful how the sinking sun covers everything in such colors..." Adda stated, lost in thought.  
  
"Peerless, indeed," Miri added, who had luck with Nadine to get a seat in the royal carriage after Shani's personal request. After three days of talking about the same things together, Shani thought it would be more interesting to have more ideas and opinions in the carriage.  
  
"Not long and we will reach the Kaedwen border."  
  
"Still two days to go, I am afraid," Shani stated.  
  
Suddenly, the royal guards around the carriage intensified their talking with each other. Their voices indicated unpleasant surprise and danger. As two heavily armed riders rushed off, probably to the convoy commander in the cart at the front, and the soldiers walking next to the carts yelled at each other, everyone understood that something was not alright.  
  
"What's going on, Adda?"  
  
"I don't know..." the Queen responded, then opened the window and stick her head through. "Is there a problem, gentlemen?"  
  
Before one of the royal guards could open his mouth to say something, someone else shouted at the top of his lungs, "SCOIA'TAEL!!!" and unleashed hell on earth. Arrows flew through the air and the convoy stopped abruptly. Shani, Adda, and the girls got a shock, looking outside to see something but it was just too dark while whooping screams and clashing swords were echoing through the battlefield.  
  
"I have to go and look after the others," Shani clarified in a half-determined way, being in a greater worry for the girls' lives than hers. As her hand grasped at the latch of the door, the carriage was hit, disengaged from a position and then toppled sideways to the muddy road. A heavy cry escaped each girl's lips when they flew about and painfully smashed against the hard, wooden shell, not knowing what was up and what was down anymore.  
  
"Is everyone alright?"  
  
"Ah, my back..." Adda added.  
  
"And face..." Miri continued.  
  
"And nose..." Nadine finished the complaining.  
  
"We have to leave this cabin immediately, girls, come on!" Shani ordered, pulled herself together and pushed the door open above her head. Using Adda's helpful palms to leverage the jump, Shani pulled herself up first and then the others. Outside, the fire and dark smoke hampered the sight while different silhouettes were fighting around and against each other.  
  
"Shani!" Adda shouted. "You can't do anything for your girls. We have to think of nothing but ourself now. Have to flee."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"Into the Kestrel Forest."  
  
"Where are the Scoia'tael coming from? I don't think this is a good idea."  
  
Adda looked at Miri and Nadine with anxious eyes.  
  
"The road is blocked and we would be sitting ducks... I know it sounds stupid but the forest is big and rambling. Our best chance to find a safe place and survive!"  
  
Before Shani had a moment to think her options through, the group got attacked by several Scoia'tael riding on horses and waving their elven swords toward them. Grabbing Miri and Nadine's hand, Shani jumped off the carriage onto her knees with Adda doing the same and landing next to her. Not looking back once, the four girls rushed through the fighting soldiers and squirrels straight forward into the dark forest.  
  
Heart near the explosion, Shani's motions were only guided by her instincts and aiming at the plan to not get caught. However, the more they seemed to get clear of the battle zone and the convoy, the less their path remained visible in a literal sense. Many times, Shani stumbled against the moldy, hard surface of a tree or hit some roots on her way to find the right way. Her white stockings were almost ragged and her heeled ankle-high boots covered in stinky mud.  
  
After some endless minutes, Shani decided to look back, as a group of elven horsemen appeared through the darkness and came up their position with heavy war cries. Nadine yelled with fear as one elven horseman grabbed and pulled her up onto his horse, disappeared before Shani could do or react. Seeing no other way, Adda turned left and trotted the other way, leaving the remaining girls behind.  
  
Being now completely seized with panic, Nadine couldn't hold herself anymore by turning right and seeking her luck on her own. Instantly, the elven horsemen separated and continued to chase the preys on by one. Shani was able to elude on elf's grip by throwing soil to his eyes and swiveling sideways into the next bush. From there, the medic crawled on all fours behind a massive tree to take a breath for a second and decide how to proceed.  
  
As Shani was ready to stand up and keep moving, her eyes widened in disbelief at a sight of a bald-headed man bracing himself against a tree and looking straight into her green eyes, his smirk devilish and innocuous at the same time. It was pitch-dark, but she could see him wearing a simple yellow shirt with a brown hood, blue pants, and brown knee-high boots. The man remembered the medic of a mangy vagrant, waving at her and then lifting his thumb.  
  
He was definitively not an illusion.   
  
Right?  
  
Startled by a heavy cry echoing from the left side, Shani just turned her head away and then gazed back at the place where the mangy vagrant used to stand, as her green eyes widened in shock once more as if the earth had swallowed him up. A cold shiver ran down her spine.  
  
"By Melitele, what's going on here?!"  
  
An honest answer clearly far away, Shani heaved to her feet and ran off with the last of her strength as three elven horsemen found and closed a ring round her, preventing her from fleeing. Even as she thought it was over, the horses began to neigh with fear and panic, almost throwing off their riders. The elves yelled at each other things in their own language. They obviously didn't know what was going on, as a brutal howl echoed through the entire forest, coming from all sides.  
  
Three massive and tall creatures, shrouded by black fur and with sharp claws, attacked the stunned the elves, cut their heads off, and caused the horses to spur in all directions. Shani was near heart attack, thought she was going to die as well, as she was slammed onto the ground. All breath escaped her as a heavy weight followed her down. The medic was up to run, trying to grab the next root but the creature was faster.  
  
It struck her hand so hard that she pitched headlong to the muddy ground again. Both her arms were pinned down in iron-hard grips with the heavy weight staying on her back. Shani's legs and arms spun around but the creature was too heavy. As soon as the red-haired medic started to twist her body, her captor emanated a deep, rumbling growl. She recognized the sound from one of her early rescue missions in Brokilon Forest.  
  
A werewolf.  
  
Shani had heard that growl before. Never had she been up close to one of them in a situation like this. Defenseless and alone. Carefully, she turned her head a fraction to glance at her right arm. It was gripped with enormous, black claws. A moment passed with the werewolf pressing her down and breathing heavily. Then, it started to slowly lift some of its weight, all the while growling menacingly.  
  
Shani's arms were released as the werewolf grabbed her tightly at the waist and turned her around. Trying to take advantage of the situation, the medic made a move to roll away, but as soon as she moved the beast opened its jaw in a terrible roar. Looking up at the werewolf, Shani was stared back at by dark eyes with a chestnut hue.  
  
The werewolf was very dark in color, with a dark skin and thick black hair growing mostly on its back, its wolf-like head and enormous shoulders. Shani's legs were gripped between its powerful thighs. The werewolf of her rescue mission she had seen had been wearing remnants of human clothing, but this one didn't, and it was obviously male.  
  
Lying there under the werewolf, it was clear how powerless Shani was. Her slim limbs looked so frail compared to the large creature's thick arms. Had she been able to hit and kick the werewolf, she didn't think it would have made any difference, as the werewolf moved its arm to grip her throat. Although the medic was able to breathe, the sharp claws close to her skin made it certain that trying to break free was not an option at all.  
  
The creature was still breathing heavily. Gazing up at its snout, Ciri realized it was drawing in deep lungfuls of air, nostrils flaring. After bending its wolf-like head closer, it started to sniff all over her upper body, like a dog. With its other hand, it was shuffling and tearing at her medic outfit, as sharp claws easily ripped her green jacket and scratched her without harming her flawless skin. Her white shirt got loosened in the process and the string fastenings of her red skirt were snapped.  
  
The redhead's heart was beating and throbbing. She didn't know what was going on. Surprisingly, the beast hadn't hurt her so far. Was this somehow one who had a more cruel plan in mind than killing her?  
  
Shani could only lie still, the smallest attempt to avoid the werewolf's touch made its claws  
tighten around her throat while the creature was concentrating its sniffing below her waist now. It pushed its snout right at the junction between her legs, sniffing wildly. Shani's body involuntarily jerked in shock causing a warning growl to answer. Once the fastenings of her red skirt were ripped open, the werewolf managed to hook its claws under the soft material and pull it down all along her long legs to the muddy ground.  
  
A horrible idea of what the creature was after came up her mind...  
  
Without wasting any time, the creature's moist snout was pressed against the short red hair between her legs. Something wet touched Shani's lower down as she realized with a jolt that it was a tongue, a very long one. A shocked cry escaped the medic's throat. The werewolf was licking her pussy. Sliding its tongue all the way from her tummy up over her pink clit to the  
patch of short hair, over and over again. Trembling now, Shani's body and mind were fighting the conflicting feelings.  
  
Terrified as the medic was, she couldn't control the warm and heady sensation spreading from her core, her thighs. Every time the beast's tongue with its soft but rough texture slid over her clit, she felt a sharp and addictive jolt of arousal. Pushing at Shani's legs with its other arm, it forced her to spread her legs as far as the elastic skirt caught below her knees would allow.  
  
To her horror, Shani could feel slick moisture starting to gather and drip from her pussy. Smelling it, the werewolf concentrated the strokes of its tongue lower, licking every drop of slick as it slid out of her. This motion's constant leaving of Shani's sensitive clit made to her shame whine in frustration at every loss. The wet tongue slid over her pussy lips and the opening, sometimes in strong, slow licks, sometimes quickly lapping over and over again.  
  
"Oh, please... oh nooo..."  
  
The werewolf obviously didn't care about bringing the medic pleasure but was intent on licking all the wetness steadily dripping from her. Occasionally, the feral tongue strayed closer to her clit. Moaning desperately, Shani lifted her hips up trying to follow the tongue. This time there was only a quiet but deliberate warning growl. The redhead thought she was losing her mind, and every reasonable thought told her to retain her focus, but she couldn't stop her ovulating body from reacting.  
  
It felt incredible how the long tongue was licking away her juice, making Shani lose all sense of time while her arousal was steadily building as she was lying there with her legs spread, head in the soft grass, eyes half-closed and flickering, and a soft whine in her throat. After what felt like ages, the licking was slowly winding down as the werewolf shifted its bulk, Shani could feel something hot brushing against her leg.  
  
"Are you serious?!? Is this really happening right now?!"  
  
The red-haired medic's heart felt like it skipped a beat. What was so mortifying about this whole twisted idea was that she wasn't entirely certain her heart was beating only in fear right now. As Shani lifted her head as much as she could to look down at the beast's groin, her eyes widened in unwanted amazement. Because what had earlier been just a vague dark shape between the beast's legs was now fully engorged.  
  
All over it was angry red in color, larger than any human cock she had seen, and longer but especially thicker. The cock was jutting straight ahead, its bulbous head shiny with liquid and massive round and red testicles hanging below. Shani realized that the werewolf was going to fuck her with it and that it hadn't caught her to kill but to breed her. Staring at the thick hardness, Shani could feel another strong pang of arousal rushing through her body.  
  
The addictive arousal felt as if it started somewhere in her back and slid fast and hot down to her very core while the werewolf was looking at her sex with its jaw open and enormous, bared teeth. Moving so that it was kneeling between her legs, it brought its hips closer to Shani's the way the hot and hard head of its cock pressed against her opening. It stopped there for a moment and Shani couldn't help her shameless moan.  
  
"Oh, boy. Oh, no. Oh, boy no!"  
  
With one straight push, the werewolf slid its huge cock in. It burned like hell when tears formed at the corners of the medic's green eyes. Shani hadn't been with anyone for a long time. Her last romp was with Geralt in Vizima years ago. The werewolf's shaft was so thick compared to any human and witcher's alike. The only thing helping was the involuntary arousal relaxing her muscles and the copious amount of slick she had been producing.  
  
Offering her time to recover, the werewolf pulled its hips back and started fucking her with steady thrusts. Shani could only gasp at the burning and throbbing sensation. Trying to ease the pain, the medic forced her muscles to relax further. The cock moving inside her was like hot steel, sliding in and out with a steady tempo with slowly the burning beginning to ease away.  
  
Biting her lips, Shani started to feel pleasure at every stroke of the huge cock inside her. The slick she was dripping was easing the way and she was so wet now that the insides of her thighs were slick and it was sticking to the black fur of the werewolf's groin. Completely unabashed moans escaped Shani's open mouth, as the werewolf slowly removed its claws from around her throat with a rumbling growl.  
  
The warning was needless since Shani was completely helpless, impaled on the creature's massive cock even without his constricting claws. With its both arms now free, the werewolf supported itself by placing them on the ground on both sides of the sweet redhead's head. Its sharp claws were dug into the soft ground. By simultaneously pushing its hips and pulling itself closer, the werewolf was able to fuck Shani deeper, who let out a moan that was almost a scream while scrabbling hold of the grass with her fingers.  
  
This was entirely beyond anything the medic had ever felt. The creature's cock was filling her completely. She could feel the pressure in her building and as the pleasure was getting unbearable, Shani tightened her muscles, gripping the plunging shaft with her pussy. Her orgasm hit her hard and her back arched off the muddy ground as she screamed, her sex convulsing around the thick shaft.  
  
More pussy juice was seeping out even with the tight fit of the cock inside her soft pussy. Shani lay on the ground, panting when aftershocks twitching her body. Through her orgasm, the werewolf had sped its rhythm for a short while but was now back to plunging steadily in and out of her body. The moisture Shani had produced was making everything even wetter. With every thrust of the cock, there was a filthy, slick sound. Hearing it made her whole body shudder in helpless arousal. Shani couldn't quite believe what was happening to her.  
  
How perverted she had to be if she found pleasure in this situation...  
  
Fucking her steadily and furiously, the werewolf was obviously far from done with her. For a moment, Shani was able to take in her surroundings. It was a cool evening and a full moon was towering in the gloomy sky. Although the air was getting colder, Shani felt hot in her sweat-soaked clothing. The slick wet sound and the rough breathing of the beast were filling her ears. Its occasional grunt was accompanied by Shani's soft whines as she continued being filled.  
  
Again, the medic was starting to drown in her pleasure, as the werewolf quite suddenly pulled out completely. The surprising sensation of being left empty was almost unpleasant, and Shani quickly couldn't help longing to be filled again, even as she was scared not knowing what was happening. Lifting her head, she could see the werewolf's cock was now a dark red color, almost purple.  
  
A thread of Shani's pussy juice and what must have been the creature's precum was joining them together. Then, the werewolf moved off of her, but before the medic could even think of reacting, it grabbed an uncomfortably tight hold of her waist and Shani was flipped over on her  
stomach, her clothes ripped further by the sharp claws. She was then roughly pulled up on her  
hands and knees, and a heavy arm was placed on her back, claws lightly scratching, reminding her not to move.  
  
Shani was made to spread her legs.  
  
A warm, wet tongue slid over her pussy twice, blissfully stroking over her clit. Then, the tongue pulled back and the redhead let out a sweet whine, but lightly furred thighs were being pressed against her legs. The blunt head of the werewolf's cock poked at her opening. With a strong thrust, Shani was filled again. This position allowed the werewolf to bottom out, its heavy testicles smacking against her bum with each thrust.  
  
The new angle made her pleasure build up fast. Hanging her head down, Shani could see thick strings of slick and precum dripping on the forest's ground from where they were joined. With his strong arm being wrapped around her waist, the creature started speeding its thrusts, and they way Shani was handled, spun and held in place for the beast's liking, made her feel like an animal or a thing, something to be used.  
  
There was no other explanation for all this. The werewolf was fucking her with the sole intention of breeding her. From the way it was grunting and fucking her harder, Shani thought it might be getting close to completion. The thought alone made her clench down in arousal, moaning loudly. She was going to cum again as the creature was varying its rhythm now, fucking her with short, rabbit-like thrusts without pulling away much, then pulling out almost entirely and plunging in with a long thrust.  
  
Squeezing the cock with her muscles every time it bottomed out, Shani was whining steadily. Finally, the beast made three strong thrusts and stayed still. It shot its hot load inside her pussy in long spurts. This triggered Shani's own orgasm and even through her wild trembling, the medic marveled at the amount of cum she could feel being poured inside her. Her arms couldn't support her anymore, so her upper body collapsed on the grass. The beast's arm around her waist kept them joined at the hips.  
  
The fat cock inside her was still twitching. Eventually, the werewolf pulled its softening cock out with a slick sound. Some of its cum dripped out of her and Shani was released to lie fully on the ground, could only lie there utterly exhausted, a wet puddle under her hips. The euphoria coursing through her body and her exhaustion prevented her from giving any thought to her fate.  
  
Shani was unable to even keep her eyes open anymore, as she recognized the same bald-headed mangy vagrant from earlier through her flickering eyelids. His arms were crossed and his expression contorted into a dark smile. His black eyes made her shudder once more. "Help me!" the medic yelled with a hoarse voice, as the werewolf grabbed her waist and flung her over the shoulder. Shani saw trees upside-down while she was being carried away and soon the redhead was lying on the soft grass. Her thoughts were in complete disarray and it took a moment to recover from the memories of a horrifying event, even more of her own depravity.  
  
Shani's cheeks felt hot, blushed in shame. Sitting up and looking around her, the medic realized she was on a small clearing where a surprising amount of moonlight was shining through the thin leaves of the trees. Shani was still wearing her torn shirt and white stockings with red ribbons, her ripped skirt disappeared somewhere in the woods. Behind her was a black opening of a vast cavern.  
  
Everything was completely silent, as her movement attracted attention and at the edge of the clearing, a black shape separated from the trees. Coming directly toward the weary medic, its eyes glinting in the moonlight. It was a large black werewolf. Her heart beating wildly, Shani made a slow move to get up but paused as she knew how futile it would be. It was too dark and the werewolf could see better and also move faster.  
  
When the beast reached her, Shani was certain it was the same one from before. Its black eyes scrutinized her before it crouched down and grabbed hold of her thighs, spread them, which unbalanced Shani enough to fall back on the ground. The werewolf moved its black head closer and inhaled audibly because she was still slick down there. This time the wet tongue licking her pussy firmly didn't surprise her, but it felt so incredibly good she pushed her hips up as far as she could.  
  
Ashamed and needy, Shani craved the staggering pleasure she had just felt before. For the moment, the werewolf seemed interested in lapping up her moisture, and frustrated by her restricted movement, the medic started to rip off her white shirt and toss it away, managing to free herself even with the heavy creature kneeling over her. Her movements made it growl, but it didn't pause in its firm licks. Pulling her legs from under the creature, she spread them wide open.  
  
Now she could feel the werewolf's tongue reach everywhere, occasionally even slipping inside her opening. Next, to the black fur, her limbs looked beautifully white in the moonlight. Wearing any of her ruined clothing felt useless, ripped as it was to reveal her skin. Sighing in pleasure, Shani stretched on the ground, the threat of the Scoia'tael totally washed away from her mind.  
  
Every time the beast's tongue pressed directly on her clit, her whole body jerked in sensation. When the creature got its fill of her slick, it stopped and toughly pinned Shani's other arm against the ground to keep her in place, kneeled between her wide-open legs. Its cock was fully hard again, huge and glistening. The redhead moaned shamelessly as it slid inside her while her senses were narrowed down into the massive red cock plunging in and out with her own moans and the slick lewd sound of every thrust.  
  
It didn't take long before Shani came on the werewolf's cock, ecstatic pleasure coursing through her body. Panting out rough breaths, the beast continued fucking her, and Shani could feel that her convulsing pussy was making its cock even harder, filling it out more. Slowly, her unfocused eyes had been directed at the forest behind the werewolf, but it took a long while  
before she saw there was some movement there among the trees. As she glanced up at the werewolf, its eyes were narrowed and teeth bared like before, but its ears were turned back, so it must have been aware of what was going on.  
  
There was no pause in the werewolf's feral movements nor in his powerful thrusts moving its cock inside her. Concentrating on the trees, Shani could see several shapes. Carefully, they stepped into the clearing, three of them to be precise. Of course, they had to be other werewolves. For the moment, they just stayed there and kept watching. Fucking her hard now, the creature reached its peak as it pushed its cock as far as it could go and kept it there, then the cock twitching in hard jerks and filling her with boiling cum.  
  
The werewolf let out a roar that echoed in the clearing. Shani whined as it pulled out of her and moved away, retreating to the shadows of the cavern. Left lying naked with her legs open, Shani's hole was a gaping mess. Panting nervously, the medic looked at the other creatures. One of them moved toward her and stood there, looming above her. In the moonlight, she could see it wasn't entirely black; its fur had lighter patches. Sliding her gaze down, Shani stopped at its groin. Its cock was equally as large as the black one's, fully hard and nudging her.  
  
In a fast movement, the beast knelt, gripped her arms and plunged its cock inside her cum-leaking pussy. The forceful movement stung and Shani gave out a shocked moan, then pulled her knees up, as the huge cock slid in deep and with a loud moan. Supporting itself by the grip on her arms, the werewolf started fucking her hard, testicles slapping against her with a wet noise.  
  
Shani felt crazy with lust because it was too arousing, being bred with cum and then passed on to the next werewolf. The hot thickness inside her felt amazing, and the medic was squeezing it with her pussy and keening softly. The werewolf was fucking her with slow, deep thrusts, pulling almost all the way out and pushing all the way in again. Shani stared at the place where they were their sweaty bodies joined.  
  
Every time the thick cock drew back, she could see it was covered in white. Precum was flowing out of the werewolf and Shani moaned desperately, squeezing her sex until the beast fucked her faster, finally plunging deep and spurting its come in her. The redhead couldn't believe it but she was coming again, helplessly aroused by this second werewolf forcing its seed deep on a fertile ground. As soon as the werewolf's cock slipped out, another one was pushing to take its place.  
  
Although the werewolves were no wolves in actual sense but humans in cursed bodies (so much Shani knew from Geralt), she couldn't help to feel like a real bitch for animals.  
  
Deafeningly loud roars filled the moist clearing as the two werewolves bared their teeth, snapping their jaws and clawing each other in a brief scuffle. The newcomer got the upper hand and took its place between Shani's legs. The other one gave up and slunk away, obviously having got what it wanted and uninterested in pursuing a fight. The new werewolf was smaller than the others. Shani wondered if this difference could be an indication to their age. It was  
certainly hasty, for it grabbed her hard and flipped her over.  
  
"Argh!" Shani hissed as the claws scratched her skin, probably drawing a little blood. Quickly finding herself on her hands and knees, the medic spread her legs, predicting the creature would do so anyway, possibly hurting her more. Soon, Shani was grabbed tightly at the waist and pulled back onto a hot and eager cock. By now she was so drenched the slide in was easier.  
  
This werewolf started to immediately fuck her in a fast rhythm, pulling her onto its cock every time it thrust forward. Shani felt like she was losing all sense of who she was. There was nothing but the massive cock moving inside her. Spreading her legs a bit more and arching her back made the cock reach deeper. The werewolf didn't seem to possess the same stamina as the previous two. Faster than the other ones, it shot its hot load in her pussy, adding to the mess inside her. Curiously, it let out a short howl and when it pulled out, a stream of cum followed.  
  
Lowering herself onto her elbows, Shani tried to tilt her hips up, for strangely she desired to keep the come inside her. A rustle of leaves close by made the medic raise her head. A dozen of different werewolves were surrounding her, waiting for a chance to plow Shani the way nature destined for. As the next three candidates stepped forward, another beast jumped into the circle and attacked them, pushed his deadly teeth deep into one's neck and hurled the obviously weaker rival against the tree which was on the other side of the clearing.  
  
The other two werewolves seemed to be stunned, with one fleeing in terror and the last one chancing its luck. It raised his heavy claws but was instantly interrupted by the feral lycanthrope's counter-attack right in his belly. With a painful whimper, the last beast raced away and yielded the floor, or better say Shani, who understood now that this one must have been the Alpha of the pack, and the strongest and most potent. Its following brutal roar pierced marrow and bone and made the werewolves around clear that she was his.  
  
The medic was alone with the Alpha. As it stepped closer, its white fur stood out in the moonlight and his pupils sparkled in ice and blue. It had to be one of the largest werewolves Shani had ever seen, a huge and hulking beast. Scars crisscrossed its entire body and between its legs was a thick, fat cock. The medic was staring at it with gaping lips.  
  
Moving behind her, the beast grabbed both cheeks of her bum and impaled her with its cock. Shani moaned in pleasure. The huge cock was completely filling her wet opening. Soon, the werewolf moved its bulk on top of her, pushing down with its hips so that Shani was toppled fully onto the ground and entirely covered by the beast itself. It was keeping most of its weight off her, but it was still deliciously heavy. She could feel the werewolf's low, rumbling growl in her body better than she heard it. Every push of its hips made a loud, wet sound.  
  
After a while of steady, rough fucking, the werewolf got up and turned her around, all the while keeping its cock inside. Once Shani was lying on her back, the werewolf arranged her as it wanted, seeking to penetrate her deep. It spread her legs, gripped her other thigh and pushed it up. Its thick cock slid impossibly deep while Shani was moaning almost non-stop now. When the werewolf released her thigh and crouched closer to her, it was as if her hands moved by themselves and grabbed hold of the white fur on the beast's sides.  
  
The werewolf allowed it, only snarling once. In this position with the werewolf pressed against her, Shani's clit was stimulated with every thrust, as the beast's thrusts were slow, grinding down deep and stopping for a while before drawing back and repeating. The red-haired medic was going mad. Every time the werewolf thrust in, she was fucking herself on its cock, pushing up with her hips and squeezing her pussy. She was finally going to cum, on the enormous cock fucking her. Screaming herself hoarse, Shani clamped down on the fat cock and trembled violently. Intense pleasure was running through her body as her sex released a rush of slick.  
  
Thrusting its hips hard, the werewolf pushed its cock deep for the last time. She could feel the cock twitching hard, pulsing the hot come out in several spurts. Aftershocks were jerking her body and every last trickle of come being shot inside her made her moan. The werewolf stayed on top of her for a while. Keening softly, Shani was squeezing the cock with her pussy as long as possible. When at last it got up and its cock slipped free, a trickle of come was flowing out of Shani's pussy filled with the cum of four werewolves altogether.  
  
The medic had cum five times. Completely exhausted, she lay there for a long while. It was entirely silent and it was terrible, but Shani was so aroused she thought she would go mad if she didn't cum. She thought about touching herself, but something held her back. It was as if she could pretend this was happening entirely against her will if she only lay motionless. She felt like pleasuring herself would have turned the experience into something else.  
  
Feeling exposed and lying on the clearing but too tired to move any further, Shani crawled on all fours toward the dark cavern. She stopped when she reached a rock wall, but she couldn't see how deep the cavern actually went. Unable to keep her eyes open anymore, the medic felt how exhaustion began to overwhelm her body as humanly hands touched and lifted her from the ground. Looking up through her half-open eyelids, Shani could only see the blurry face of an old man before she fell in deep sleep for good.


	5. CP1: Triss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Triss and Priscilla survive the fiend "attack" and meet up with Aurelia. Together, they decide to head for the place called Pretty Witch. When they arrive there, Triss is confronted not only by new challenges as a whore but also someone who she thought was dead for years. And there is also Zoltan who is of the party too this time... 
> 
> Word count: 6173
> 
> Tags: no sex

"Aurelia? Are you alright?" Triss asked the high-class prostitute whose blue eyes were gaping wide open with an empty gaze and a ball between her lips. Her body was stiff, hands tied behind her back while her knees were flexed, touching the stone floor. "Aurelia!"  
  
"I think she is in shock, Triss," Priscilla stated after putting her clothes on, covered in fiend semen leaking down to the ground. "Slap her face. That will help."  
  
Triss looked at her troubadour friend, expression frowning, then did what she proposed by taking a big swing with her palm and giving her a firm but friendly slap. The clash resounded through the cave hall immediately, but Aurelia still didn't move a bit.  
  
Priscilla looked over to Triss, obviously not understanding why it didn't work, as Aurelia began screaming bloody murder with her eyes still fixated on an empty spot somewhere in the darkness. Reflexively, the redhead slapped Aurelia's cheek once more, this time a much less firm and rougher. Her deed had a visible effect and the blond beauty twitched and shook her head, looking straight into Triss and then Priscilla's eyes. As she seemed to understand where she was and what happened, she panicked even more and fell backward.  
  
"Easy, easy. Aurelia calm down. Let me remove the ball and the robes. Hold still."  
  
It was easier said than done. Aurelia was scared to death and tried to flee but didn't come far before she stumbled and dashed headlong onto the ground.  
  
"Hold her, Priscilla, until I got her free. She can't think straight."  
  
After some awkward moments, both girls achieved to handle Aurelia's outburst and free her from her immobile state. Despite her smeared face with black mascara and makeup, and her dried-up streams of tears covering her cheeks and eyelids, she seemed fine and unharmed.  
  
"YOU!" the blond barked instantly, pointing at Triss. "Barrett... My life... it's over... I'm dead... No!... Shit!... Mama!..." Aurelia jabbered, panicking again, then furiously gazed at the red-haired sorceress. "YOU are marked you fucking cunt!"  
  
"What!? What the hell are you talking about?" Triss countered angrily. Aurelia ignored the red-haired sorceress question and appeared confused. "Where am I?! What is this place?"  
  
Priscilla and Triss exchanged glances.  
  
"In the sewers of Novigrad. Where have you been before?"  
  
Aurelia's eyes wandered from one spot to the other. "I-I... I remember talking to the witch hunter officer and waiting for him in his personal quarters. Then... then it got really cold and the wine in my mug poured up to the ceiling with all the things in the place including my chair... and me..." Her voice became more hollow by the second. "The very ground and building trembled. I thought I was going to die... I couldn't breathe any longer. Then I saw it... him."  
  
Aurelia looked up with a white face, lips quivering.  
  
"I saw... Death."  
  
A shiver ran down Triss and Aurelia's spine. It wasn't what the blond prostitute said that made her statement sound eerie but how. Now everyone was confused and afraid at the same time.  
  
"Triss?" Priscilla said carefully. "I think we should go. I don't know about you but I don't feel really safe here. Especially after what happened here and she just said to us."  
  
"And what's with her? She betrayed me to the Witch Hunters. I don't wanna have her around."  
  
Suddenly, Aurelia jumped off and pitched into Triss, pulled her red hair and scratched her skin over her C-cup tits. Screaming in pain, the red-haired sorceress tried to dodge some of her attacks and motions, but every time she achieved to push one strike away, Aurelia came up with another and the situation turned into a catfight.  
  
"YOU destroyed my life, YOU SORCERESS WHORE! DIE!!!"  
  
"NOT BEFORE I KILL YOU!!!" barked Triss back, punched the two-braided elven girl on her stomach. They turned around, now with Aurelia bracing against the floor and Triss choking her.  
  
"ENOUGH!" Priscilla yelled and pulled Triss off, stopping her from counter-attacking Aurelia again by breaking up the fight. "Stop it already. Aurelia, Triss, both of you. Girls STOP!"  
  
The troubadour's harsh tone surprised both women and made them back off. Aurelia snorted disdainfully, pulled up her black silk knee-high socks, readjusted her high-waisted skirt and her dark red cropped belly sweater with long sleeves. Although her makeup was totally boned, the beautiful elf was still emitting an aura of classy attractiveness and depravity.  
  
"Matching collars you both are wearing by the way. Worthless Cumbucket and Public Fuckmuffin'. How creative..."  
  
"Shut up, slut, before I burn you to ashes and piss on your remains!" Triss hissed after checking her prostitute outfit. It felt like years ago when she slipped on the pair of tight white shorts, its top started an inch and a half below her belly button and was held shut by a little gold button just above the zipper and ended at the point where the back of her thighs began to shape into her ass, roughly at the same height in the front, hugging each leg tightly.  
  
The redshirt Triss used to wear was a long-sleeved plaid button-up, and still intact after the fiends'... attack. But instead of buttoning any of the buttons, the red-haired sorceress had rolled the bottom half of the shirt up to her ribs, wrapped it like a bra under each of her breasts, and then tied it in a knot in the middle. The end result was a huge amount of cleavage. About a half of each big tit was visible at the base of the knot, but the shirt widened all the way up to her neck. The knot rested between her large tits as a centerpiece.  
   
Triss' full waist - from the top of the shorts below her belly button, to just below her breasts - was completely naked. The sleeves were loosened and rolled up to her elbows, and she had on a pair of comfortable five-inch leather heeled ankle boots and white thigh-high thin socks including garter straps and the mandatory yellow ribbon around the right thigh. Her carrot red hair was tied in two buns. The outfit was still screaming 'fuck me hard and rough please!' and Triss wouldn't prefer to have it the other way. She lived up to her given nickname of a worthless cumbucket and she had accepted her new place in the world.  
  
All magic and her former status of royal councilor aside, Triss was a nothing more than a street whore now... or used to be. With the Witch Hunter's interference, she had lost this last foothold of her former life and last chance to make some money to save her friends. She couldn't even call her a wench anymore. Such women were socially and economically superior to her. Finally, Triss had arrived at the deepest point of her life. In the sewers, she was considered as no one.  
  
As nothing...  
  
"Enough. Let's just move on the place Pretty Witch and solve this dispute there. Shall we?"  
  
Rage and disappointment rushed through Triss' body, who wanted to hear some answer and reasons why she was in this mess now. "You mentioned the name Barrett, Aurelia. Who is he? Spit it out! Or we will leave you here. Alone."  
  
Surprisingly, Aurelia just chuckled and shook her head. "Bitch is marked and she doesn't even know it. What a fucked world we normal people are living these days. If Barrett hasn't told you who he is, then I will certainly not do it myself."  
  
"And why did you report me to the Witch Hunters?!"  
  
"Because this is what I always do to wannabe bitches who think they deserve better!"  
  
"You didn't know who she really was, right?" Priscilla tossed in.  
  
Aurelia gave off a deep sigh and for the first time, Triss recognized a deep regret in her eyes.  
  
"No, I didn't know. If I had known that Scarlett Greenstein was, in fact, Triss Merigold, an actual sorceress, I would have never contacted the Witch Hunters. This would be a really stupid idea and started an investigation. All girls including me would have lost their jobs and Cinia incarcerated for hiding a wanted heretic..."  
  
"Then what was your idea anyway?" asked Triss this time.  
  
"Usually, the Witch Hunters are sending a few men to the wannabe bitch I reported to them and this is enough to scare her off the business and the city. That's all. But this time, everything has gotten way out of hand and with the consequence that I must have forced Barrett to intervene himself... He won't forgive me until the end of my life. I am dead."  
  
Tears began to run down Aurelia's cheeks. Triss believed her but she was still very angry.  
  
"Whatever. Let's just get out of here before these creatures return. I'm sick of all this."  
  
"The Pretty Witch shouldn't be so far away anymore. I think--"  
  
"Follow me," Aurelia grunted and beckoned them. "I know where this place is. Come on."  
  
Shortly bandying looks, Triss and Priscilla followed the blonde elf through several dark tunnels and auxiliary shafts. It appeared like Aurelia had been already here once. Luckily, there were no signs of monsters or other things ready to breed them.  
  
"It seems to us that you know where we are right now. How is this possible?" Priscilla asked and jumped over a stream of scat and piss.  
  
"Because I was born in the sewers before my mother achieved to escape this shithole."  
  
"How?" asked Triss hopefully.  
  
"She achieved to establish the first brothel here and became one of the first founders of the districts and zones."  
  
"Districts?"  
  
Aurelia rolled her eyes.  
  
"Yes, districts. You know maybe that anarchy is ruling over the sewers of Novigrad. Well, that's true for about ninety-five percent of it. The remaining five percent is divided into different districts, or zones how people usually call them. The first and most important one is the green zone with the barracks where homeless people are living and the different trading venues. Regardless of who you are, the green zone is a safe place for everyone and any armed action completely forbidden. A death sentence."  
  
"Why green?" Priscilla asked curiously.  
  
"Because of the color on the tunnel walls fencing the zone in. It's magic and believe me when I say it is throwing bolts of fire and electricity if you violate the rules."  
  
Triss' eyebrows arched as she asked herself to whom the color belonged to.  
  
"And there is also the famous violet zone with the biggest streetwalker district on the continent. The daily working place of five-hundred wenches and desperate women. And the Pretty Witch considered as the pink zone... the only and most expensive and lucrative brothel of the continent as well, which clients from Ofir, Zerrikania and other wealthy nations are making use of its delicate and unique services. Lady Sabrina Glessivig is the Madam there."  
  
"You must be wrong. Sabrina Glessivig is a former sorceress of the Lodge and crucified by King Henselt years ago. Someone must be clearly using her name to lure customers."  
  
Aurelia ignored her and explained further, "Everything beyond these green, violet, and pink zones belongs to the red zone, or 'dead-sec' people say, which makes ninety-five percent of the sewer system as I mentioned before. In dead-sec, there are no rules or laws. The tunnels are in possession of gangs. In other words, it is a war zone where criminal organizations, drug and arms dealers, slavers, and terrorists are constantly contending for mastery."  
  
"But why? I mean what is the purpose of being in control of empty tunnels beneath the city? What's the point?"  
  
"The point is there are entrances to the sewers all over Novigrad's streets and back alleys. The control of specific tunnels can bring you a fortune, especially when we are talking about drugs and arms. The sewer system also lays the foundation for slavery. There is nothing a man can't get down here."  
  
The next moment, all three girls entered a tunnel which was lit-up by torches on both sides. After walking along and passing the next corner, a group of armed men appeared in the distance and came close to their position, faster by the second.  
  
"Shit. We better try our chance through the shaft three tunnels nearby. Com---"  
  
Aurelia was interrupted as her back touched a man's torso and he grabbed her throat, pulled her to prevent her from running away. Shocked, Priscilla tried to yell but was muzzled by another man's palm and harsh grip. Triss was just about to cast a spell as the leader of the gang beat her and made her fall on to her knees with her tasty butt soaring and face kissing the dirty ground. Feeling dizzy, Triss didn't notice how the leader dropped his trousers and grabbed her hips to push his cock as deep as possible into her pink pussy, ready to rape her senseless while her friend and Aurelia had to watch before their own turns came.  
  
"NOO!!!" Triss just heard Priscilla roaring. "HELP!!!"  
  
The rapists broke out laughing, and then immediately stopped, looking into the next dark tunnel on the other side of the place where two points were sparkling through. Their expressions changed into fright. Triss' eyes moved up as an old man in priest clothes stepped through the darkness and slowly walked toward the abashed crowd, arms invisibly crossed. It lasted a little eternity when he finally stood in front of them and fatherly smiled.  
  
"Gentlemen. Can I ask you what's going on here?"  
  
"Father Kusak..." All armed men muttered at the same time and bowed respectfully, not few of them trembling. All girls seemed to be puzzled except for Aurelia who pushed herself free and rushed toward the priest, embracing him.  
  
"Oh, my little Aurelia. Is that really you?"  
  
"Yes, Father. I'm back, and I've brought some friends with me."  
  
"Ah, I see," the priest said and gazed down at Triss who was still kneeling on all fours. "Please, let me help you up, my child. These men will not harm you in any way. You have my word."  
  
Triss accepted the old man's offer and stretched hand, got up again and beckoned Priscilla to move her ass to hers. Something about the priest of the Holy Fire was confidence-inspiring and intimidating at the same time. The thugs around shrunk to little boys and looked like they were going to be punished.  
  
"Father! We can explain this," the leader said, blushing like a tomato.  
  
"Oh, my son. This is really not necessary. I can see what's supposed to happen here. You have met three beautiful women and decided to commit sins. That's all. The stronger always dominates the weaker. Like the Fire and Mother Nature has foreseen for all of us," Father Kusak stated and confused Priscilla and Triss, not Aurelia. "I just want to ask you kindly to attend my church next time so we can talk freely about rape, power, and dominance. Alright?"  
  
The men nodded in approval and bowed their heads once more before leaving them behind. The situation was surreal and somehow creepy. Triss didn't understand why these men were so frightened about this old man but they must have their reasons. At the moment, they all could consider themselves lucky to not being sexually abused, enslaved, or worse.  
  
"The youth these days..." Father Kusak chuckled. "Twenty-four hours horny and full of beans."  
  
"Father, I don't wanna sound unthankful but we need to attend the Pretty Witch. Is there maybe the slightest chance you could accompany us? Otherwise, I get the feeling this won't be our last encounter with such gangs and criminals."  
  
"Oh, what a coincidence, my child. That's the same place I was asked to visit too. Let's move on then and not waste more time than necessary in these dark tunnels."  
  
Without exchanging any new word, the four left the recent tunnels and walked the direction the priest wearing a simple black frock guided them. Triss wanted to ask questions but hold herself back. However, the people's reactions when they passed them indicated enough information about the old man with ice-blue eyes. Each thug armed to the teeth and looking scarier than the one beside him bowed his head in honest respect or shook his hands, thanked him for reasons Triss nor Priscilla comprehended. The aura that surrounded and radiated him was worthy of a king. It was like these people were looking up to him, pining for his support.  
  
The longer they moved, the brighter and more populated started the shafts and tunnels to become. Triss was surprised to see so many men, elves, dwarves, and halflings using Novigrad's sewers as a shelter and last resort. As they came across a crossroad, Aurelia uttered, "Look. Can you see the green color at the level of the torches? We made it. From here, it's not far away to the Pretty Witch."  
  
The girls followed Father Kusak and became witnesses of more plain facts. First, they passed the residential part of the green zone. Poor people, families, and elders had built themselves their own homes and barracks, living side by side and beckoning to the priest with a warm smile. Second, Priscilla was amazed to see facilities like infirmaries, schools, soup kitchens, and churches along the several tunnels. The priests of the Holy Fire and priestesses of Melitele were distributing food and drinks, free and easy. Triss asked herself whether this could explain Father Kusak's popularity.  
  
Minutes later, the color on the walls changed from green into pink and they were standing before a six-floored mansion in a massive hall, unlike anything they had seen so far. The building itself was made of massive stones and expensive woods, with a large glass door at the base and no guards seemingly in need of protecting it.  
  
After Father Kusak pushed the door open, Triss and Priscilla's eyebrows arched and faces contorted in amazement. The first floor was spacious and decorated with pictures and expensive furniture queued in squares and spread all over the place. Men from different countries and cultures were sitting around and being served by women wearing nothing else than black lingerie, heels, and jewelry. Triss had seen many attractive and flawless women in Aretuza and thanks to magic, but this notched up the known performance. Every and each prostitute was a beauty herself and clearly a professional in her field. At the ceiling were hanging cut-glass, crystal chandeliers.  
  
Aurelia didn't lie a bit when she said the Pretty Witch would be the biggest and most lucrative brothel in the continent...  
  
"Thomas, you are late," a familiar voice resounded from the end of the room where a woman was sitting at a round desk. "As always."  
  
"I'm not the youngest whelp anymore, Sabrina," Father Kusak countered friendly and walked toward the red-haired woman. As they crossed the entire floor, Triss had almost a coronary. Her jaw dropped. She thought her eyes must have been under a spell. Otherwise, the woman called Sabrina was the actual sorceress Sabrina Glessivig. This was impossible. Should be.  
  
"And Triss Merigold of Maribor graces my little corner of debauchery here," Sabrina Glessivig said, unfazed. "Tell me, Triss, how is Yennefer doing? Still the spoiled bitch in heat, I guess."  
  
"Sabrina... how is this possible?" Triss blurted out. "You were crucified by Henselt. Geralt even had to hold a ritual to lift your curse."  
  
"Geralt? Wasn't that the witcher and lover of Yennefer?"  
  
Triss gritted her teeth. This woman was obviously Sabrina and wearing a provocative outfit to underline her beauty the way she had usually done. She and Yennefer seemed to be rivals of a sort, though they both feigned friendship with each other and claimed to be the younger of the pair and took offense to be called former classmates. Speaking briefly, Sabrina could be a cold-hearted bitch as much like Yennefer.  
  
"I don't want to interrupt this warm and friendly reunion of two friends, but I was called for an urgent meeting here," Father Kusak tried to break the icy look of both sorceresses' gazes. "Or shall I go and come later, Sabrina?"  
  
"No. Since Triss is here, we can start with the meeting right off."  
  
"Me?"  
  
"Yes, pighead. You. Cinia is sending her regards. Follow me."  
  
Confused and surprised to hear the name, Triss followed Sabrina who was wearing a skin-tight red dress and five-inch pumps. She looked as sexy and healthy as ever.  
  
After a short moment, they entered a room with a long wooden table filled with food and drinks. On the left side were already sitting Cinia, another black-haired woman Triss didn't know, and to her utmost shock the Lieutenant of the Temple Guard who slipped the key of her dimeritium ankle bracelet into her pussy. Father Kusak sat on the top and Sabrina to his left.  
  
As Triss moved over to Cinia to ask her what was going on, she felt someone poking at her back and saying, "Triss, are you okay? I was so worried after the witch hunter attack, and immediately came when Cinia asked for me."  
  
"Zoltan?" the redhead muttered, happy to see him and embarrassed after their sexy evening together, especially how she treated him after that. Speechless, Triss looked back at him and pondered over the right words.  
  
"Sit down, all of you. We have a lot to discuss. You can solve your personal problems later. I even have my own ones with that blond bitch you took along," Cinia ordered, her deadly eyes fell upon Aurelia, but Triss was just glad to avoid the necessary conversation with Zoltan for the moment, as everyone finally seated oneself next to the halfling madam of the Massive Oak.  
  
"I was not my intention to make things more complicated, Cinia!" Aurelia blurted out. "If I knew your favorite girl was one of them, I'd have never gone to the Witch--"  
  
"You piece of shit. I kill you myself!!!"  
  
"Carthia stop her!" Sabrina yelled at the unknown, black-haired woman who retained the madam with all might.  
  
"Enough of this female prattle! Hey, I said enough! Take it outside and later. I don't have so much time. CINIA! I am talking to you! Come on."  
  
By the lieutenant's intervention, Cinia stopped her attack again but wasn't finished with Aurelia a bit. Her eyes shot fire bolts and teeth gritted in hate, telling that it wasn't over yet. Not by far.  
  
"Triss, my child," Father Kusak snapped the chance to say something. "This is Stefan Skellen. He is our contact within the Witch Hunters, the Temple Guards, and the Nilfgaardian Secret Service... But I heard you already made acquaintance with him."  
  
The red-haired sorceress nodded carefully, the feeling to run away still trembling in her core.  
  
"And you probably know Carthia van Canten, alias Cantarella but Sasha now I guess?"  
  
"That's correct, Father," Sasha smiled. "Triss, I am the head of Barrett's operations such as drug and arms dealing, human trafficking, and gambling in Redanian Territory, and Lan Exeter and Poviss. I must admit that I am really excited to work with you. Heard a lot of good things."  
  
Everyone's eyebrows arched, including Priscilla and Zoltan's. This time, even Aurelia seemed to be impressed too about something she didn't know. Cantarella was a name Triss thought she had heard about once from Assire var Anahid who died in Loc Muinne...  
  
"Excuse me when I sound rude or stupid but who is Barrett exactly? And where is Lady Irene van Engelsberg? Isn't she supposed to be here too?"  
  
A stifled laughter went around.  
  
"My child," Father Kusak said, smiling. "None of us here can tell you who Barrett really is. Only he himself. When the time has come, he will reveal his person and his intentions. For now, just try to get your own idea of him. I'm afraid the same goes for Irene."  
  
"Barrett must be Mistress van Engelsberg's famous, secret donator, right? Everything else doesn't make sense. He has to be."  
  
"Irene and Barrett are together, Triss. They always were. Even before Yennefer and I became students in Aretuza a century ago," Sabrina Glessivig stated.  
  
"Then he must be a sorcerer of the Ban Ard Academy. What does he want from me?!"  
  
"I don't know but you are only here because of me," Cinia revealed.  
  
"What? No!" Triss disagreed. "The speaking creature who saved me in the sewers from the witch hunters. Then Mister Skellen's help in the girls' quarters. Then the redirection of my teleportation down here and right into Irene's old laboratory. And if all this wasn't enough, I also saw a shapeshifter in the form of an Alpha fiend before Aurelia appeared on the scene, babbling about Barrett and that I was marked by him. What the hell is going on here?!  
  
"I cannot speak for the creature but I only helped you because I needed to protect Cinia and her brothel," Stefan Skellen conceded. "Barrett had nothing to do with it."  
  
"But the teleportation--"  
  
"Was Barrett's work, most probably, or I think it was, and unfortunately Aurelia's appearance here too." Cinia sighed in annoyance while looking at the blond prostitute. "But only because of our first deal together. The one in which you agreed to work as a wench and me looking for your missed friends in the meantime."  
  
Triss furrowed her brow.    
  
"Yes, but... how did he manage to redirect the magic stream of the portal down here?"  
  
"When he has decided to speak with you in person, you can ask him that yourself," Sabrina added. "For now, we need to talk about your immediate future which is a thing of a much greater concern. Cinia, it's your turn."  
  
The halfling madam looked up at the red-haired sorceress with serious eyes.  
  
"Thanks to Aurelia's unbelievably idiotic behavior, the option to work for me in the brothel and on the streets of Novigrad is off the table. Caleb Menge initiated an investigation and only Barrett's personal influence is protecting me and my girls' lives from the Witch Hunter's arbitrariness. And because of what happened in Oxenfurt."  
  
"Oxenfurt?"  
  
"The same day the witch hunters attacked you in the docks, a huge number of them got wiped out in Oxenfurt a few hours later by an unknown demon. Caleb Menge just escaped with his life and is now dealing with much bigger problems than you. We don't know how, but Barrett achieved to cut us a break in this matter."  
  
"But this isn't true for Priscilla and Triss, I guess?" Zoltan asked and raised his voice for the first time. "Maybe I can post bail, at least for my lovely Callonetta here."  
  
Triss gazed at Zoltan angrily. What did he mean by saying lovely?  
  
Stefan Skellen took a sip of wine. "It doesn't matter. Both are now considered as witches. It's not a matter of money but death."  
  
"Nonetheless, I promised you that I would find your friends and bring them back, and I always try to keep my word as long as it's in possible reach," Cinia uttered. "That's why you are here and I offer you a new deal. The last way to bring all this to a happy ending."  
  
Not knowing how she supposed to get out of all this mess and make money like before, Triss gave off a deep sigh and indicated Cinia to keep talking.  
  
"Good. My idea is that you make the best of your situation and talents if you become your own madam here in the sewers and establish your own brothel in the red zone."  
  
Zoltan almost spat out the entire beer and Aurelia's eyes gaped wide open in shock. "Are you mad?! She is a wench for almost a week and you think she is ready to open up her own brothel, and even here in the sewers, the deadliest place on the continent?!"  
  
"There must be a reason why Barrett let you live, my child," Father Kusak explained. "I think this is the perfect way to redeem yourself."  
  
"With all due respect Father, this is suicide." Aurelia's voice broke for a moment, near tears. "It is extremely hard to conduce a brothel toward success under legal circumstances. Down here, the first twenty-four hours decide whether you can live or have to die."  
  
"That's why Zoltan is here," Cinia stated. The dwarf looked like he had no idea, and with him Triss as well.  
  
"Err, what?"  
  
"Your job is to protect them, be Triss' muscle. And you will officially act as her ruthless pimp while she unofficially leads the business. A necessary precaution."  
  
All eyes moved to Zoltan sitting next to Priscilla and who was coughed and stroke his chest to not get drown because of the beer in the trachea. Triss couldn't explain why she hated and liked the idea at the same time. Something about Zoltan sending her to turn tricks and becoming his whore turned her incredibly on. The slutty part of her wanted this to happen, and it was almost what made her out today.  
  
"By Melitele's tits, Triss doesn't need a man to protect her... I couldn't do that anyway."  
  
"You have to do this Zoltan," Cinia stated energetically. "Triss will need someone she can entrust her life to and who has extensive combat experience... And don't even try to tell me you never wanted this to happen in your fantasies."  
  
Zoltan's cheeks blushed sweetly.  
  
"Oh, dammit, Cinia you are a damn beast and you know that... But only if Triss is okay with it."  
  
"I'm okay with it!" Triss instantly agreed and made Priscilla chuckle girlishly.  
  
"Good. With that problem out of the way, you should know that we have a specific place in the red zone in mind you could use. It is a tunnel which is connected to the surface by an empty building and warehouse in the harbor side of Novigrad. However---"  
  
"It's surrounded by different hostile gangs and in the middle of a war zone," Sasha added. "In order to survive and gain access to the building, you will have to make deals and compel arrangements with the gangs. Your diplomatic skills will hopefully help you this time."  
  
"Why can I just not simply turn tricks in the violet zone like any other woman?"  
  
"Because," Aurelia explained surprisingly, "the average income per client is around fifty coppers, at best. You would never earn enough to break even. Not in one lifetime. There is a reason why the most desperate and poorest women are going hooking there."  
  
"Triss, on the surface you were forced to follow rules and pay taxes for each provided service. Down here, you don't have anything or anyone dictating you how you should make money. In the sewers of Novigrad, you can get incredibly rich if you are willing to work hard for it."  
  
"Or enslaved, eaten, slaughtered, and die trying..." Aurelia contradicted Cinia.  
  
"It doesn't matter," Sabrina tossed in, "if she wants to save her friends' lives and to buy a ship to leave the city with them."  
  
For a moment, silence fell over the place and Triss contemplated what Cinia and Sabrina had been trying to suggest here. And Aurelia's words were true too. But how much of choice remained after what happened on the docks?  
  
"But you still don't know where the remaining girls are. It could last months---"  
  
"I already found all of them," Stefan Skellen tossed in and handed over a paper. Triss instantly skimmed over the names and locations. It was worse than she thought. Much worse.  
  
"As you already know Anisse, Berthold, and Annabelle ran into Whoreson's men in his arena and taken captive. According to my spies and NSS' intelligence, they are still here in Novigrad."  
  
"And why are they still captive?" Triss asked reproachfully. "Why didn't you rescue them?"  
  
"Because there is a gang war going on between Whoreson Junior and the other three major crime bosses. The Novigradian City Council and the Hierarch have ordered NSF and NSS to back off and not intervene in Whoreson's business. It's a matter of politics. My hands are tied."  
  
"So you won't rescue them?"  
  
"That's not what I said. I only indicated that I personally can't accomplish a rescue mission. However, a Spectre could, and I'm working on it BUT not for free. Keeping all the spies and informants is expensive and I haven't even charged Cinia for my own efforts. I'm really doing all this because she's been vouching for you and because of her word you will bear the costs."  
  
Everyone looked at Triss in anticipation. The red-haired sorceress knew what the Lieutenant was trying to tell her and that she didn't have a choice here. When she refused to establish a brothel in the sewers AND to make much money, her friends were literally gone. Out of her reach. So, there wasn't much of choice actually. She had to accept no matter what the risks.  
  
"How is the situation of the other girls?" Triss asked, indirectly proving others that she was accepting Cinia's offer. Sabrina, Sasha, and Father Kusak bandied looks.  
  
"Going east in the sewers, Tarra and Ienna ran into a guy called Hammond, a skelliger slaver who transported them to Kaer Muire, a fortress and home base of the Clan Drummond and its leader, Jarl Madman Lugos. Possible proceeds will be expensive."  
  
Priscilla gave off a little shriek at the sound of the Jarl's name.  
  
"Sylviane and Tyeenna are tried to hide on a koviri ship. In order to protect the ship, a koviri mage subdued them and sold them a plantation owner in Ofir. Luckily, someone of trust is applied to buy and bring them back as soon as possible. This is the very best news I got for you right now."  
  
"And Jacqueline and Alienor?" Triss asked impatiently, happy to hear about Sylviane and Tyeenna but fearing what was coming now.  
  
"Everything I know about them is that they are seen entering a carriage heading to Toussaint. They even passed the borders but not long afterward got assaulted by creatures."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
Stefan Skellen furrowed his brow.  
  
"All passengers died, their bodies drawn and quartered. All passengers except your friends. The official report says that they were abducted to one of the caves in the vicinity. Who knows why and where exactly. I'm working on it too but this is the situation right now. Hope this proves our honesty to keep our side of the bargain."  
  
"Yes, it does," Triss replied, eyes still at the list and the names of her friends.  
  
"Right now, you cost us a lot of money and you don't return anything," Sasha pointed out. "Cinia is bearing all your costs but all these findings and rescue attempts exceed her means by far, which means I have to vouch for her expenses too with unpredictable risks for the entire consortium. I need proof of repetitive cash flows."  
  
"What have you in mind, my child?"  
  
"Father, I am ready to give Stefan the go-ahead for his work IF Triss can prove me after a week that the brothel is successfully established, yields profit, and its connected to the warehouse in the harbor side with or without the arrangements of the existing gangs. IF Triss has achieved all these things, then Stefan will have my permission to undertake real actions to save her friends. Not before."  
  
The redhead swallowed and took a sip of wine while everyone was looking at her once more. They expected to hear a promise from her.  
  
"Alright. It's not like I have much of choice..."  
  
"If this is Lady Merigold's last decision, then the green district will give his consent on this plan," Father Kusak stated and showed Triss respect by bowing his head.  
  
"And the pink district as well," Sabrina Glessivig added.  
  
"You can do this, Triss. I totally believe in you and your talents. And as much as I hate the idea that Aurelia is still alive, I think Barrett decided well to surrender her fate into your hands," Cinia smiled at the red-haired sorceress and then gave Aurelia a deadly glimpse. "Make use of her skills and knowledge as much as possible."  
  
"I will. Thank you, Cinia. Again. Without you, I would have died countless times already."  
  
Sasha and Father Kusak stood up and made themselves ready to go, as Sabrina proposed Triss and the others to spend the first night to eat, to take a bath and to rest. Tomorrow morning, they would be having a hard row to hoe.  
  
Triss accepted gladly, taking the chance to have a talk with Sabrina in person.  
  
And there was Zoltan too...  
  
Oh, it was going to be a rough night, indeed...


End file.
